Considering pathologic significance of oxidative stress in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), current research aimed to evaluate the effects of melatonin supplementation on oxidative stress markers and disease activity in SLE.
In this randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, 32 SLE females were selected and randomly assigned into 2 groups to take 10 mg/day melatonin or placebo for twelve weeks. Before and after trial, serum malondialdehyde (MDA) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) were measured and disease activity was determined by Systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity index 2000 (SLEDAI-2K).
Twenty-five patients (13 in the melatonin and 12 in the placebo groups) completed the trial. Melatonin supplementation caused significant reduction in serum MDA compared with baseline (P=0.003) and placebo group (P=0.004). Serum TAC level did not change significantly in the melatonin group compared with baseline and placebo group (P>0.05). Furthermore, melatonin supplementation did not cause significant change in disease activity compared to baseline and placebo group (P>0.05).
This study demonstrated affirmative effects of melatonin in decreasing oxidative stress in SLE patients without any effect on disease activity. Further investigations are required to affirm these primitive findings and to achieve concise conclusions.

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