Todisco Mauro, Rossi Nazzareno
ASL11 (Local Health Department of National Health Service), Fermo, Italy.
Am J Ther. 2002 Nov-Dec;9(6):524-6. doi: 10.1097/00045391-200211000-00012.
In addition to its well-known influence on circadian rhythms, melatonin has been described as being able to increase the number of platelets in circulating blood. This provided the rationale to evaluate melatonin for toxicity and efficacy in three patients with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) refractory to initial treatment with corticosteroids or splenectomy (refractory ITP). Patients received melatonin for 1 month. The therapy was continued for 2 additional months in patients with stable or responding disease. After 3 months, the stable or responding patients continued the therapy for 3 months and more. All patients had a partial response after 1 month. Continuing with the treatment, none of the three patients had disease progression (average follow-up time of 31 months; range: 23-46 months). Toxicity was lacking, with the only side effect being drowsiness. Our experience suggests that melatonin may be safe and effective in patients with refractory ITP.
除了其对昼夜节律的众所周知的影响外，褪黑素还被描述为能够增加循环血液中的血小板数量。这为评估褪黑素对三名患有特发性血小板减少性紫癜（ITP）的患者的毒性和疗效提供了理论依据，这些患者对皮质类固醇或脾切除术的初始治疗无效（难治性ITP）。患者接受褪黑素治疗1个月。对于病情稳定或有反应的患者，治疗再持续2个月。3个月后，病情稳定或有反应的患者继续治疗3个月及更长时间。所有患者在1个月后均有部分反应。继续治疗后，三名患者均无疾病进展（平均随访时间31个月；范围：23 - 46个月）。没有毒性，唯一的副作用是嗜睡。我们的经验表明，褪黑素对难治性ITP患者可能是安全有效的。
