Melatonin therapeutic use in psychiatry: a 39 year bibliographic study

Abstract

Introduction. The therapeutic uses of melatonin in psychiatry are reviewed.

Methods. Data source and search strategy: a 39 year period search covering a 39 year period (1966-2004) was carried out using Medline data base. The search strategy consisted in the combination of the key words «mental disorders or psychiatry» and «melatonin and therapeutic use». Two restrictive criteria were applied: a) selection of studies carried out in humans, and b) only randomized controlled trials were admitted.

Results. 56 articles were found. Twelve were excluded because they were not directly related to the study aim. Melatonin was used in 44 articles related to different clinical conditions. It was used because of its hypnotic and/or resynchronizing actions in 93.2 % of the articles, while in 4.5 % of the articles melatonin was used due to its antioxidant properties.

Conclusions. The main use of melatonin as a therapeutic agent in psychiatry is in sleep disorders and its use in other psychiatric is minor.