Studies have shown that melatonin opposes key pathological processes that mediate AMD, including dysregulated apoptosis, choroidal neovascularization and oxidative damage. Photo: NEI. Click image to enlarge.

The common sleep aid melatonin may be beneficial in treating and reducing the risk of ocular conditions, according to new research published last week in JAMA Ophthalmology. In the study, researchers examine how patients at risk for or developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD) could potentially benefit from melatonin supplementation.

Researchers from Cleveland assessed the data from 121,523 patients’ electronic health records. A total of 4,848 patients were selected to represent the melatonin group while the remaining 116,675 were the study’s control. Propensity score matching was used to compare the two cohorts based on different variables. When comparing the two groups, researchers found that melatonin reduced the risk of AMD by more than half (relative risk 0.42). “Such associations persisted even when patients were monitored for age-related macular degeneration development at least two years after the index event,” noted the researchers in their study.

The population for this study was comprised of patients aged 50 years or older. Researchers assessed the risk of AMD progression to the wet form of the disease in 66,253 nonexudative patients and discovered that melatonin was associated with a reduction in progression. Then, the researchers divided the patients into subsets: 50 years or older; 60 years or older; and 70 years or older. They noted that each subset reported the same reduction in risk of progression with the association of melatonin.

Since this study was exploratory, the researchers noted multiple limitations. Miscoding on the patients’ health records was one possible issue noted. Additionally, the researchers did not account for smoking or other supplements that could play a risk of developing or progressing AMD. Therefore, the melatonin group may have been healthier than the control which provided positive results in the study. Furthermore, patients in the melatonin group provided their history of melatonin use prior to the study, but melatonin therapy wasn’t monitored during the observational period.

“Given the convenient availability in oral form and generally benign safety profile of melatonin, confirmation of this study’s results in future clinical trials and longitudinal studies could contribute to advancing the current treatment options for age-related macular degeneration,” concluded the researchers in their paper.