Common sleep hormone pill may worsen bowel inflammation: study

Despite its antioxidant effects and role in regulating the sleep-wake cycle, melatonin, known as the “sleep hormone,” may worsen intestinal inflammation and impair the action of gut microbiota, one study found. has warned. The community of bacteria and other microbes in the gut is important for health, helping to regulate digestion and benefiting the immune system.

An imbalance of unhealthy and healthy microbes in the intestines can contribute to weight gain, high blood sugar, above normal cholesterol, and other disorders. Melatonin is often taken without a prescription as a so-called food supplement by people with sleep problems.

“It is generally considered harmless. After all, it is a hormone and can help regulate sleep. However, our study suggests that people should be careful about taking hormone supplements and melatonin.” Consuming supplements can have adverse health effects.” Cristina Ribeiro de Barros Cardoso, Professor of Immunology and Neuro Immuno Endocrinology at the University of São Paulo, Brazil.

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The study, published in the journal Microbes, involved an experiment in which colitis was induced in mice, and they were treated with melatonin. Instead of improving, his condition worsened.

“It’s important to emphasize that no human patients were involved in the study. The animals had much worse intestinal inflammation,” Cardoso said.

“We then set out to understand why. We found that melatonin had a positive effect on disease if the effect on the gut microbiota was ignored and the mice were treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics to eliminate all the bacteria.” Went.”

The negative effects of melatonin, therefore, depend on the bacteria that live in the gut and are also associated with inflammatory diseases of this area. Certain features of the gut microbiota enhance inflammation and impair the immune system in response to treatment with melatonin, damaging the digestive tract.

“We must be very careful with medicines, hormone supplements or hormones that are presented as food supplements. You buy a ‘food supplement’ in a pharmacy and think it is not a medicine, it is something you put into your body. won’t change, it will only do good because after all it’s sold as a food supplement, but it’s not really like that at all. It’s a hormone, and the regulation of interactions between all hormones and the immune system is very delicate,” Cardoso said.