Tag: melatonin

Categories : Medical Research & TechnologyTags :

Sleeping with Weighted Blankets Increases Melatonin

On By ModernMedia
Sleeping woman
Photo by Cottonbro on Pexels

A small study has shown that young adults sleeping using weighted blankets had increased levels of the hormone melatonin, which increases in response to darkness, and which some research suggests promotes sleep. The findings are published in the Journal of Sleep Research.

Weighted blankets have been suggested to ease insomnia in humans in previous research but underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. To address this, Uppsala University researchers recruited 26 young men and women to examine if the bedtime use of a weighted blanket increases the production of sleep-promoting and anti-stress hormones like melatonin and oxytocin. They also investigated whether the bedtime use of a weighted blanket (12% of participants’ body weight) reduced the activity of stress systems in the body. Saliva samples were collected from participants while they were covered with either a weighted or a light blanket to measure melatonin, oxytocin, cortisol, and sympathetic nervous system activity.

“Using a weighted blanket increased melatonin concentrations in saliva by about 30%. However, no differences in oxytocin, cortisol, and the activity of the sympathetic nervous system were observed between the weighted and light blanket conditions,” reported Elisa Meth, first author and PhD student.

“Our study may offer a mechanism explaining why weighted blankets may exert some therapeutic benefits, such as improved sleep. However, our findings rely on a small sample and investigated only the acute effects of a weighted blanket. Thus, larger trials are needed, including an investigation of whether the observed effects of a weighted blanket on melatonin are sustained over longer periods,” said senior author Christian Benedict, Associate Professor at Uppsala University.

Source: Uppsala University

Categories : Respiratory DiseasesTags :

Melatonin May be The Culprit for Nocturnal Asthma

On By ModernMedia
Source: Pixabay

Why patients with asthma find their condition worsens at night has remained largely unknown, but now researchers have found that the sleep hormone melatonin may be the culprit.

In ‘nocturnal asthma’ , patients with asthma often experience a worsening of asthmatic symptoms at night. More than 50% of asthma deaths occur at night, showing a link between nocturnal asthma symptoms and asthma deaths. Though numerous triggers that explain the pathogenesis of nocturnal asthma have been described, the precise mechanisms regulating this asthma phenotype remain obscured until now. Now, a study published in the American Journal of Physiology Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology may have explained the relationship via melatonin.

Asthma patients suffer from bronchoconstriction which may be eased with a bronchodilator. However, melatonin, which is often prescribed for insomnia, favours a state of bronchoconstriction and weakens the relaxing effect of a bronchodilator through the activation of the melatonin MT2 receptor.

To elucidate this, the research group identified the expression of the melatonin MT2 receptor in human airway smooth muscle. They observed that the activation of the melatonin MT2 receptor with higher doses of melatonin or melatonin receptor agonist ramelteon greatly potentiated the bronchoconstriction. In addition, melatonin attenuated the relaxing effects of the widely used bronchodilator β-adrenoceptor agonist.

“Although serum concentration of melatonin did not significantly induce the airway constriction, greater doses of melatonin, which is clinically used to treat insomnia, jet lag, or cancer, worsened asthma symptoms and impaired the therapeutic effect of bronchodilators,” said study leader Kentaro Mizuta from Tohoku University Graduate School of Dentistry .

First author Haruka Sasaki added, “The pharmacological therapy that blocks the melatonin MT2 receptor could inhibit the detrimental effects of melatonin on airways.”

Source: Tohoku University