Acute myocarditis and low melatonin: unraveling a potential link

TL;DR

This study suggests that lower melatonin levels may be linked to acute myocarditis, a condition that can cause sudden cardiac death in young adults.

Contribution

The study is the first to show reduced melatonin levels in patients with acute myocarditis compared to healthy controls.

Findings

Acute myocarditis patients had significantly lower aMT6s levels compared to healthy controls.

The aMT6s-to-creatinine ratio was also reduced in patients with acute myocarditis.

Abstract

Acute myocarditis is one of the common causes of sudden cardiac death among young adults. While melatonin has been recognized for its cardioprotective properties, the specific relationship between melatonin and acute myocarditis in humans is not well established.

We collected morning urine samples from 21 patients diagnosed with acute myocarditis and 21 healthy controls to measure the levels of 6-sulfatoxymelatonin (aMT6s), a biomarker of nocturnal melatonin secretion, using an ELISA assay.

The mean age of the control group was 31.05 ± 9.75 years, and the acute myocarditis group had a mean age of 30.71 ± 10.11 years. Both groups were evenly divided by gender, with 15 males and 6 females in each. Acute myocarditis patients exhibited significantly lower aMT6s levels (50.57 ± 36.39 ng/mL) compared with healthy volunteers (80.36 ± 48.92 ng/mL; P = 0.031). Similarly, the aMT6s-to-creatinine ratio was reduced in patients (106.95 ± 73.45 ng/mg cr) vs. controls (159.73 ± 92.96 ng/mg cr; P = 0.048).

Lower melatonin levels, measured via urinary aMT6s concentrations in acute myocarditis patients, suggest a link to the disease process.

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