Possible Interaction: Melatonin and Fluvoxamine

“Increased melatonin levels by the administration of fluvoxamine may contribute to improvement in sleep disturbance, one of the major symptoms of depression.”

“After treatment with fluvoxamine , plasma concentration of melatonin was significantly increased, which suggests that melatonin synthesis is in part under serotonergic control.”

“AbstractObjective: The nocturnal serum melatonin MT ) level increases after ingestion of fluvoxamine (FLU) – a selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor (SSRI) with antidepressive properties.”

“If FLU , but not CIT, inhibits liver enzymes involved in the metabolism of MT , different serum MT concentrations should probably ensue.”

“ Fluvoxamine , a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, is known to elevate melatonin serum concentrations.”

“Acute administration of the specific serotonin uptake inhibitor, fluvoxamine (100 mg at 16.00 h), markedly increased nocturnal plasma melatonin concentrations, with high levels extending into the morning hours.”

“On the contrary, there was no correlation between plasma melatonin and urinary aMT6s concentrations following fluvoxamine treatment, suggesting that fluvoxamine may inhibit the metabolism of melatonin.”

“We would like to point out that fluvoxamine might also exert beneficial effects in COVID patients through its well-characterized ability to substantially increase (~ 2–3-fold) nighttime plasma levels of melatonin.”

“Following subchronic administration, plasma melatonin levels were significantly increased after the 1st (50 mg/day), 2nd (100 mg/day) and 3rd (150 mg/day) week of fluvoxamine intake in comparison to pre-drug levels.”

“Plasma melatonin concentrations at 9 a.m. were significantly increased after the intake of 150 mg fluvoxamine the night before; whereas, administration of the same dose in the morning did not lead to increases in melatonin during the day.”

“The results seem to indicate that following fluvoxamine intake at night, the early morning decline of melatonin is delayed.”

“Because this inhibitory action is also found in vivo, fluvoxamine might be used as an enhancer of melatonin , which might offer new therapeutic possibilities of fluvoxamine.”

“Nocturnal blood concentrations of melatonin have been shown to be enhanced by fluvoxamine , but not by other serotonin reuptake inhibitors.”

“The authors concluded that fluvoxamine is a potent inhibitor of melatonin degradation.”

“Recently, Demisch et al. (1986, 1987) reported that the administration of the selective 5-HT reuptake inhibitor fluvoxamine at night led to significant increases of nocturnal melatonin concentrations in the plasma of healthy volunteers and a delayed decline of plasma melatonin in early morning hours.”

“Background and aims Fluvoxamine can markedly increase the serum melatonin level, which regulates human circadian rhythm.”