Melatonin in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women: associations with mood, sleep, climacteric symptoms, and quality of life.
OBJECTIVE
Melatonin synthesis and secretion are partly modulated by estrogen and progesterone. Changes in melatonin concentrations, possibly related to the menopausal transition, may be associated with climacteric mood, sleep, and vasomotor symptoms. The aims of this study were to compare the serum concentrations of melatonin in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women and to evaluate melatonin's influence on mood, sleep, vasomotor symptoms, and quality of life.


METHODS
We analyzed the data of 17 healthy perimenopausal women (aged 43-51 y) and 18 healthy postmenopausal women (aged 58-71 y) who participated in a prospective study. On study night (9:00 pm-9:00 am), serum melatonin was sampled at 20-minute (9:00 pm-12:00 midnight; 6:00-9:00 am) and 1-hour (12:00 midnight-6:00 am) intervals. Questionnaires were used to assess depression (Beck Depression Inventory), anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory), insomnia and sleepiness (Basic Nordic Sleep Questionnaire [BNSQ]), subjective sleep quality, vasomotor symptoms, and quality of life (EuroQoL).


RESULTS
Postmenopausal women had lower nighttime serum melatonin concentrations than perimenopausal women. The duration of melatonin secretion tended to be shorter in postmenopause, whereas melatonin peak time did not differ. Mean melatonin concentrations and exposure levels did not correlate with follicle-stimulating hormone level, estradiol level, body mass index, Beck Depression Inventory score, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory score, BNSQ insomnia score, BNSQ sleepiness score, subjective sleep score, climacteric vasomotor score, or quality of life. In perimenopause, the later is the melatonin peak, the higher is the level of anxiety (P = 0.022), and the longer is the melatonin secretion, the better is the quality of life (P < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
Longitudinal research is needed to better understand the possible contributory role of menopause in lower melatonin levels.
From the 1Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, National Institute for Health and Welfare THL, Helsinki, Finland; 2Department of Psychiatry, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; 3Sleep Research Unit, Department of Physiology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland; 4Heart Center, Turku University Hospital, and University of Turku, Turku, Finland; 5Department of Public Health, Hjelt Institute, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; 6Institute of Biomedicine, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland; and 7Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Turku University Hospital, and University of Turku, Turku, Finland.
Elena
E
Toffol
Nea
N
Kalleinen
Jari
J
Haukka
Olli
O
Vakkuri
Timo
T
Partonen
Päivi
P
Polo-Kantola
D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology*; D000368:Aged; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002979:Climacteric / Q000502:physiology*; D004958:Estradiol / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D005640:Follicle Stimulating Hormone / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D008550:Melatonin / Q000097:blood*; D008875:Middle Aged; D017698:Postmenopause / Q000502:physiology*; D011788:Quality of Life; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*
D004958:Estradiol; D005640:Follicle Stimulating Hormone; D008550:Melatonin