Possible Interaction: Melatonin and Antipsychotic Agents

“ Melatonin may also have some efficacy in the treatment of BD, especially in decreasing the side-effects associated with lithium and the neuroleptics.”

“Add-on MLT treatment leads to a modest improvement of objective and subjective sleep quality, of metabolic adverse effects of antipsychotics , and of tardive dyskinesia symptoms in schizophrenia patients.”

“Considering that these factors are contributing to cardiovascular disease as a leading cause of mortality in psychiatric patients, so the use of melatonin can reduce some of the medical effects of long-term treatment of atypical antipsychotics.”

“Further, melatonin would be expected to improve sleep disorders in schizophrenia and side effects of anti-psychotics , such as tardive dyskinesia, metaboilic syndrome and hypertension.”

“ Melatonin is likely to have impacts on the metabolic side effects of anti-psychotics that contribute to subsequent decreases in life-expectancy.”

“The adjunctive use of melatonin in schizophrenia may augment the efficacy of antipsychotics through its anti-inflammatory and antioxidative effects.”

“Similarly, replacement therapy with melatonin reduces weight gain secondary to the use of anti psychotics such as olanzapine (Raskind et al., 2007).”

“We propose that the increase in melatonin secretion, which occurs with the initiation of neuroleptic therapy, may be responsible for the delay in the antipsychotic effects of neuroleptics and may also account for the lag in the development of drug-induced Parkinsonism as well as its disappearance.”

“In this paper, we point out the possible protective effect of add-on melatonin treatment in preventing, mitigating, or even reversing SGAs metabolic effects, improving quality of life and providing safer long-term treatments in pediatric patients.”

“It has been hypothesized that SGAs cause adverse metabolic effects that may be restored by nightly administration of melatonin because of its influence on autonomic and hormonal outputs.”