The Protective Effects of Melatonin on Blood Cell Counts
The Protective Effects of Melatonin on Blood Cell Counts of Rectal Cancer Patients Following Radio-Chemotherapy
Rectal cancer patients undergoing combined radiotherapy and chemotherapy often face a serious side effect: a drop in critical blood cell counts—including white cells, neutrophils, lymphocytes, and platelets—which can lead to increased infection risk and treatment delays. In this double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, titled The Protective Effects of Melatonin on Blood Cell Counts of Rectal Cancer Patients Following Radio-Chemotherapy, 60 patients were randomized to receive either melatonin or placebo. The intervention group received 20 mg of oral melatonin daily, administered five days per week for four weeks during their treatment course.
Both groups began with comparable blood counts and similar demographic profiles. Blood samples were collected at baseline and at day 28 to assess changes. Patients in the melatonin group experienced noticeably milder reductions in key cell populations—platelets, total white blood cells, lymphocytes, and neutrophils—compared to those in the placebo group, suggesting a protective effect. However, red blood cell counts did not differ significantly between the groups, indicating that melatonin’s benefits were specific to certain blood cell types.
The researchers concluded that melatonin may help mitigate the hematological side effects of radiation and chemotherapy in rectal cancer, likely through its well-known antioxidant properties and ability to enhance cellular resilience.
In summary, melatonin supplementation during radiochemotherapy shows promise as a low-toxicity adjunct to preserve white blood cell, lymphocyte, neutrophil, and platelet counts in rectal cancer patients—potentially reducing treatment disruptions. Still, the small scale and short duration of this trial call for larger and longer-term studies to confirm these encouraging findings.
References
Kouhi Habibi N, Shabestani Monfared A, Ebrahimnejad Gorji K, et al. The protective effects of melatonin on blood cell counts of rectal cancer patients following radio-chemotherapy: a randomized controlled trial. Clin Transl Oncol. 2019;21(6):745‐752.
By Dr. Sydney Moffat, ND and Dr. Gurdev Parmar, ND, FABNO(USA)
