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Melatonin supplementation might assist offset the DNA harm related to evening shift work by boosting the physique’s potential to restore it, counsel the findings of a small scientific trial revealed on-line within the journal Occupational & Environmental Drugs.
Bigger research various doses and the potential long-term results of melatonin supplementation at the moment are warranted, conclude the researchers.
Regular night-time manufacturing of the physique clock hormone, melatonin, is suppressed in evening shift staff. This compromises the physique’s potential to restore oxidative DNA harm, the by-product of regular mobile processes, heightening the chance of sure most cancers in these staff, clarify the researchers.
They subsequently needed to search out out if melatonin supplementation may assist offset this harm by enhancing DNA restore in 40 evening shift staff.
Half the individuals had been randomly assigned to a each day 3 mg melatonin tablet taken with meals and an hour earlier than going to sleep through the day for 4 consecutive weeks. And half had been randomly assigned to a 3 mg dummy tablet following the identical schedule.
All of the individuals labored a minimal of two consecutive evening shifts each week, lasting a minimum of seven hours an evening, for a minimum of six months. None had any sleep issues or long-term circumstances.
Urine specimens had been collected through the second of two subsequent day sleep and evening shift durations—as soon as earlier than beginning the trial and as soon as close to the tip of the 4 weeks.
Members wore exercise trackers to measure how lengthy they slept through the day. Ranges of 8-OHdG, which is an indicator of DNA harm restore capability, had been measured in all urine handed in periods of daytime sleep and the next evening shift.
Urinary ranges of 8-OHdG had been 80% greater throughout daytime sleep—indicating higher restore— amongst these taking the melatonin complement than these taking the dummy tablet. However there was no important distinction in urinary 8-OHdG ranges through the subsequent evening shift.
It is a small research, and a lot of the individuals labored in well being care, so the outcomes will not be relevant to different sorts of evening shift employee, acknowledge the researchers. Nor had been they capable of account for pure mild publicity, which impacts circulating melatonin ranges.
However they level out, “Increased oxidative DNA damage due to diminished DNA repair capacity is a compelling mechanism that may contribute to the carcinogenicity of night shift work. Our randomized placebo-controlled trial suggested melatonin supplementation may improve oxidative DNA damage repair capacity among night shift workers.”
And so they conclude, “Our findings warrant future larger-scale studies that examine varying doses of melatonin supplements and longer-term impacts of melatonin use. Pending the outcome of such studies, melatonin supplementation may prove to be a viable intervention strategy to reduce the burden of cancer among night shift workers.”
They add, “Assessing long-term efficacy is critical since those who work night shifts for many years would need to consistently consume melatonin supplements over that timeframe to maximize the potential cancer prevention benefits.”
Extra info:
Melatonin supplementation and oxidative DNA harm restore capability amongst evening shift staff: a randomised placebo-controlled trial, Occupational and Environmental Drugs (2025). DOI: 10.1136/oemed-2024-109824
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British Medical Journal
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Melatonin supplementation might assist offset DNA harm linked to nighttime shift work (2025, February 24)
retrieved 24 February 2025
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