Does melatonin increase iron levels? According to Woo-Ram Park et al., it helps keep the right balance of iron in the body, managing iron homeostasis and regulating the concentration of iron-related proteins. (2022) Do you want to learn more? Then we invite you to read on!

Key Takeaways

• Melatonin controls iron levels and affects its metabolism, so it can both help increase these levels and decrease them.
• Melatonin and iron levels are connected both for mammals and plants, with the former having a positive effect on the latter.
• Melatonin and iron supplements can be prescribed together, but there is not always a need for that since melatonin can impact the iron levels itself.
• Low or high iron levels may cause numerous medical conditions, from iron-based anemia to cancer or diabetes. Thus, proper testing is of the utmost importance.
• You can test blood more accurately and quickly with Scanbase and our AI-powered test results.

You may also read: Leukemia And Iron Levels. What Do You Need to Know?

Does Melatonin Increase Iron Levels?

The relationship between melatonin and iron levels has been taken under observation in quite a number of clinical studies. All of these have proven that melatonin does impact iron levels. But does it increase them? Actually, the opposite.

As Yang, Tang, and Zeng pointed out, melatonin can actually be used to reduce the issues coming from iron overload in mammals. (2022) This is because it manages iron metabolism and influences certain enzymes involved in iron regulation. As a result, melatonin can be used to treat certain conditions caused by iron overload, such as:

• neurodegenerative disorders, (Wang, 2009, as cited in Yang et al., 2022)
• cardiovascular diseases, (Tengattini et al., 2008, as cited in Yang et al., 2022)
• liver diseases, (Zhang et al., 2017, as cited in Yang et al., 2022)
• ischemia-reperfusion organ injury, (Sener et al., 2002, Cervantes et al., 2008, Zhou et al., 2018, as cited in Yang et al., 2022)
• diabetes, (Peschke et al., 2015, as cited in Yang et al., 2022)
• osteoporosis, (Li et al., 2019, as cited in Yang et al., 2022)
• cancer. (Jung and Ahmad, 2006, as cited in Yang et al., 2022)

Are you looking for ways to diagnose some of the above conditions? Check the tests we scan!

If we look at plants instead of mammals, then yet again, melatonin proves to have a positive effect on iron levels. According to Ahammed et al., the hormone aids plants when they suffer from iron overload but also when iron deficit is the problem. In practice, this means that melatonin alleviates iron stress and stimulates plant growth. (2020)

Taking Melatonin and Iron Together

What does the above suggest about taking melatonin supplements and iron supplements at the same time? That you can do it. However, should you?

Considering how melatonin affects iron metabolism, in many cases, it might be unnecessary to take iron supplements – the melatonin will impact the absorption and do the trick for you.

‍Therefore, in all cases when you might be considering combining melatonin and iron supplements, it’s worth going deeper into the aforementioned studies, and calculating whether it actually makes sense.

Why Is Keeping a Decent Iron Level Critical?

Finally, let us discuss why keeping a proper iron level is a must and, thus, why the role of melatonin in the process is so paramount.
Iron balance in your organism is critical, as both its deficiency and overload can cause numerous conditions. While we have shown you these related to iron excess, now it is time to discuss those illnesses that one can suffer due to insufficient iron levels, the most frequent one being iron-deficiency anemia.

‍Iron-deficiency anemia – This is one of the most frequent types of anemia. It is most problematic for infants and small children, teenagers, and adults over the age of 65.

The problem with this condition is that patients might be likely to self-diagnose it, therefore putting themselves at risk of iron overload, which may even be fatal. Therefore, it is crucial that you inform your patients about the risks of taking too much iron on their own and conduct effective testing.

For this sake, we recommend that you take a look at our solutions – find out how you can diagnose iron deficiency/overload more effectively through dried blood spot interpretation and read about our smartphone-based computer vision for rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing. With our solutions, you will be able to diagnose these and many other conditions in an accurate way that is easy for the patients and convenient for you.
Sources:

Ahammed, G. J., Wu, M., Wang, Y., Yan, Y., Mao, Q., Ren, J., Ma, R., Liu, A., & Chen, S. (2020). Melatonin alleviates iron stress by improving iron homeostasis, antioxidant defense and secondary metabolism in cucumber. Scientia Horticulturae, 265, 109205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2020.109205

Park, W. R., Choi, B., Kim, Y. J., Kim, Y. H., Park, M. J., Kim, D. I., Choi, H. S., & Kim, D. K. (2022). Melatonin Regulates Iron Homeostasis by Inducing Hepcidin Expression in Hepatocytes. International journal of molecular sciences, 23(7), 3593. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23073593

‍Yang, J., Tang, Q., & Zeng, Y. (2022). Melatonin: Potential avenue for treating iron overload disorders. Ageing Research Reviews, 81, 101717. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arr.2022.101717