Melatonin Use Linked to Reduced Risk for Development, Progression of AMD

TUESDAY, June 11, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Melatonin use is associated with a reduced risk for development and progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), according to a study published online June 6 in JAMA Ophthalmology.

Hejin Jeong, from the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, and colleagues conducted a retrospective cohort study to examine the association between melatonin supplementation and the risk for development or progression of AMD. Melatonin medication codes were queried for patients aged 50 years or older, 60 years or older, and 70 years or older with no history of AMD (AMD-naive group) and with a history of nonexudative AMD (nonexudative AMD group). Based on the presence of medication codes for melatonin, patients were then classified into a melatonin group or control group.

The researchers found that among 121,523 patients aged 50 years or older in the AMD-naive cohort and 116,675 in the control cohort (4,580 in each group after propensity score matching), melatonin use was associated with a reduced risk for developing AMD (risk ratio [RR], 0.42). Melatonin was associated with a reduced risk of AMD progression to exudative AMD (RR, 0.44) among 66,253 patients aged 50 years or older in the nonexudative AMD group and 61,903 controls (4,064 in each group after propensity score matching). Among subsets of patients aged 60 years or older and 70 years or older, the findings were similar.

"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 AMD," the authors write.

Two authors disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical and eye health care industries.

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