Melatonin Effects in Women With Comorbidities of Overweight, Depression, and Sleep Disturbance: A Randomized Placebo Controlled Clinical Trial

Background and Objectiveaa Co-morbidity of obesity, sleep disturbance, and depression is common, especially among women. We aimed to evaluate the effects of melatonin on body weight, depression symptoms and sleep among women with co-morbidities of obesity, mild and moderate depression, and sleep disturbances seeking weight reduction compared with the placebo. Methodsaa This double-blind, randomized clinical trial was performed on 43 patients with comorbidity of mild and moderate depression, overweight/obesity (body mass index ≥ 25) and sleep disturbance. After obtaining the informed consent forms they were randomly assigned to receive 3 mg melatonin or placebo at bed-time. We performed body composition assessments, Beck Depression Inventory, Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index at the baseline, and 2, 4, 8, and 12 weeks after initiating of the study. We analyzed the data using analysis of variance repeated measures. Resultsaa Melatonin significantly reduced depression symptoms compared with the placebo, F = (1, 34) = 6.2, p = 0.017. Also, melatonin significantly improved sleep quality, F = (1, 33) = 8.0, p = 0.008. Besides, subjects on the melatonin reduced more weight compared with the placebo but difference between groups was not significant, F = (1, 41) = 0.2, p = 0.650. Patients in the melatonin group did not show significantly more side effects compared to placebo. Conclusionsaa Based on our findings, melatonin was not able to significantly reduce the body weight more than placebo, but as a safe over-the-counter supplement, it may be helpful in patients with co-morbidities of sleep disturbance, mild and moderate depression, and obesity in reducing the symptoms of depression and insomnia. hypertension, type-2 diabetes, certain types of cancer mortality Obese have a lot of co-morbidities including sleep disturbances and depression. The prevalence of sleep disturbances is high among obese individuals. et al. [3] reported that about 25% of obese people suffer from sleep disturbances. Liu et al. [4] indicated that obesity is a moderator in association between sleep disturbances and metabolic syndrome including diabetes. Similarly it has been shown that obesity plays a moderator role in association between sleep disturbances and depression.