Melatonin and Sleep Disturbances in Alzheimer’s Disease

Title:Melatonin and Sleep Disturbances in Alzheimer’s Disease

Volume: 20 Issue: 8

Author(s): A.H.M. Safayet Ullah Prodhan , Cinzia Cavestro, Mohammad Amjad Kamal and Md Asiful Islam*

Affiliation:

• Department of Haematology, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian, 16150 Kelantan,Malaysia

Keywords: Melatonin, Alzheimer's disease, sleep disturbances, melatonin receptor agonists, amyloid beta, APP.

Abstract: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by sleep, behavioral, memory, and cognitive deteriorations. Sleep disturbance (SD) is a major disease burden in AD, which has a reciprocal relationship with AD pathophysiology. It aggravates memory, behavioral, and cognitive complications in AD. Different studies have found that melatonin hormone levels reduce even in the pre-clinical stages of AD. Melatonin is the primary sleep-regulating hormone and a potent antioxidant with neuroprotective roles. The decrease in melatonin levels can thus promote SD and AD neuropathology. Exogenous melatonin has the potential to alleviate neuropathology and SD in AD by different mechanisms. Various studies have been conducted to assess the efficacy of exogenous melatonin to treat SD in AD. Though most of the studies suggest that melatonin is useful to ameliorate SD in AD, the remaining studies show opposite results. The timing, dosage, and duration of melatonin administration along with disease condition, genetic, environmental, and some other factors can be responsible for the discrepancies between the studies. More extensive trials with longer durations and higher dosage forms and studies including bright light therapy and melatonin agonists (ramelteon, agomelatine, and tasimelteon) should be performed to determine the efficacy of melatonin to treat SD in AD.

Cite this article as:

Prodhan Safayet Ullah A.H.M., Cavestro Cinzia, Kamal Amjad Mohammad and Islam Md Asiful*, Melatonin and Sleep Disturbances in Alzheimer’s Disease, CNS & Neurological Disorders - Drug Targets 2021; 20 (8) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1871527320666210804155617