Melatonin use is associated with a reduced risk for the progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), according to a study published online in JAMA Ophthalmology .
Researchers conducted a retrospective cohort study to examine the association between melatonin supplementation and the risk for 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 (AMDnaive 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 research utilized data from the TriNetX database, covering patient records from 2008 to 2023. Patients were divided into melatonin and control groups, with at least four instances of melatonin use required for inclusion in the melatonin group. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to balance the cohorts regarding demographics, comorbidities, and use of nonmelatonin hypnotics.
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.
The study suggests that melatonin’s antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiangiogenic properties may counteract key processes in AMD pathogenesis, such as oxidative stress and neovascularization. Previous studies support melatonin’s role in enhancing the viability of retinal pigmented epithelial (RPE) cells and reducing oxidative damage, which are critical in AMD progression.
These results indicate that melatonin could be a promising preventive therapy for AMD. However, further clinical trials are needed to confirm these findings and explore the ap – propriate dosage and duration of melatonin use for AMD prevention. “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 wrote
