Is there a role for melatonin in fibromyalgia?

Fibromyalgia, characterised by persistent pain, fatigue, sleep disturbance and cognitive dysfunction, is a central sensitivity syndrome that also involves abnormality in peripheral generators and in the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis. Heterogeneity of clinical expression of fibromyalgia with a multifactorial aetiology has made the development of effective therapeutic strategies challenging. Physiological properties of the neurohormone melatonin appear related to the symptom profile exhibited by patients with fibromyalgia and thus disturbance of it’s production would be compatible with the pathophysiology. Altered levels of melatonin have been observed in patients with fibromyalgia which are associated with lower secretion during dark hours and higher secretion during daytime. However, inconsistencies of available clinical evidence limit conclusion of a relationship between levels of melatonin and symptom profiles in patients with fibromyalgia. Administration of melatonin to patients with fibromyalgia has demonstrated suppression of many symptoms and an improved quality of life consistent with benefit as a therapy for the management of this condition. Further studies with larger samples, however, are required to explore the potential role of melatonin in the pathophysiology of fibromyalgia and determine the optimal dosing regimen of melatonin for the management of fibromyalgia

Study Group)

Objective: In this study, it was aimed to evaluate the relationship between vitamin D level and pain severity, localization and duration in patients with non-specific musculoskeletal pain.Materials and Methods: Patients who applied to physical medicine and rehabilitation outpatient clinics due to non-specific muscle pain in 19 centers in Turkey were retrospectively screened. Three thousand four hundred fourpatients were included in the study, whose pain level was determined by visual analog scale (VAS) and the painful region, duration of pain and vitamin D level were reached. D group was found to be D deficient (group 1) when 25 (OH) D level was 20 ng/mL or less and group D 2 (vitamin D deficiency) was higher than 30 ng/mL (group 3). The groups were compared in terms of pain duration, localization and severity. In addition, the correlations of pain localization, severity and duration with vitamin D levels were examined.Results: D vitamin deficiency was detected in 2202 (70.9%) of 3 thousand four hundred and four registered patients, and it was found that vitamin D deficiency in 516 (16.6%) and normal vitamin D in 386 (12.4%). The groups were similar in terms of age, body mass index, income level, duration of complaint, education level, family type and working status (p>0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between groups in terms of VAS, pain localization and duration scores (p>0.05).Conclusion: Our study shows that vitamin D deficiency in patients with nonspecific musculoskeletal pain is not associated with the severity and duration of pain