Effect of melatonin on C-reactive protein and lipid profile of hemodialysis patients

Introduction: Cardiovascular disease is one of the major causes of death in hemodialysis patients. Lipid metabolism abnormalities and increased inflammatory factors are related factors. In recent studies, melatonin inhibits dyslipidemia and reduces inflammatory factors by inhibiting LDL-C oxidation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of melatonin supplement on hyperlipidemia and C-reactive protein (CRP) level in hemodialysis patients. Objectives: We aimed to determine the effect of melatonin on CRP and lipid profile of hemodialysis patients. Patients and Methods: Among 200 hemodialysis patients, only 28 patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria to enroll in the study. Patients were treated with melatonin supplements 3 mg/d at bedtime for 12 weeks. Serum lipid profile and CRP levels were measured after 12 weeks. Five patients were excluded, 2 patients underwent kidney transplantation, and three patients did not cooperate. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare the two groups according to the number of participants (less than 30) and study type (pre-test and post-test). P <0.05 was considered as the level of significance. Results: A total of 23 patients completed the treatment protocol. Participants was composed of 13 male and 10 female. The participants’ mean age was 30.6± 11.6 years. After treatment mean total cholesterol levels decreased from 139.95±35.49 mg/dL to 131.13 ± 34.96 mg/dL (P=0.194) which was not statistically significant. However, the decrease in serum triglyceride level was statistically significant (P=0.004). Plasma HDL-C increased significantly after treatment (P=0.032). Serum CRP levels did not change. Conclusion: Melatonin supplement improves serum triglyceride and HDL-C levels in hemodialysis patients but has no effect on total cholesterol and CRP in hemodialysis patients. Trial Registration: This randomized controlled trial was registered by the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (identifier: IRCT20200308046724N1; https://en.irct.ir/trial/46407, ethical code; IR.SBMU.RETECH.REC.1397.687).