Oral Melatonin Shows Benefits for Pruritus, Sleep, and QoL in AD
Key Takeaways
New research suggests 10 mg melatonin daily for 4 weeks significantly reduced disease severity in adults with mild to moderate atopic dermatitis (AD).
Melatonin supplementation was associated with improvements in pruritus, sleep quality, and dermatology-specific quality of life, according to the data.
No adverse effects were reported. Pain intensity did not change significantly.
Melatonin supplementation significantly improved disease severity and several patient-reported outcomes in adults with mild to moderate atopic dermatitis (AD) after 4 weeks of treatment, according to new results from a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial.
Investigators randomly assigned participants to receive either a 10 mg melatonin tablet or a matching placebo once daily for 4 weeks. Disease severity was assessed using the SCORAD (Scoring Atopic Dermatitis) index at baseline and at study completion. Secondary endpoints included pruritus severity measured by the Pruritus Numeric Rating Scale (Pruritus-NRS), pain intensity using the Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS), sleep quality assessed by the Atopic Dermatitis Sleep Scale (ADSS), and quality of life measured by the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI).
Eighty patients completed the study (mean (SD) age of 33.26 (12.57) years; 32 participants; 40% male). After 4 weeks, the melatonin group demonstrated significant improvements in SCORAD scores (P < 0.001). Improvements were also reported in pruritus severity (Pruritus-NRS; P = 0.006), 12-item Pruritus Severity Scale (12-PSS; P = 0.011), sleep quality (ADSS; P < 0.05), and quality of life (QoL; DLQI; P = 0.003). Pain intensity measured by NPRS did not significantly improve (P = 0.063). No adverse effects were reported.
“Melatonin supplementation in adult patients with mild to moderate AD effectively improved disease severity, sleep quality, and quality of life, without any reported adverse effects,” the authors wrote. “However, due to limitations of our study, further research is required to confirm these findings.”
Source: Heidari Z, et al. Journal of Pineal Research. 2026. Doi:10.1111/jpi.70130