Owens Judith
Boston Children's Hospital, 9 Hope Avenue, Waltham, MA, 02453, USA.
World J Pediatr. 2025 Apr 30. doi: 10.1007/s12519-025-00896-5.
The impact of melatonin on pediatric populations has not yet been widely researched. This narrative review is intended to summarize the current literature regarding the efficacy and safety of melatonin for children and potential pitfalls in its clinical use, in order to assist pediatric practitioners in making evidence-based recommendations that serve the best interests of their patients and families.
A literature review of melatonin in the pediatric population was conducted using PubMed search terms: melatonin, pediatrics, child/adolescent.
Melatonin use in the pediatric population world-wide has increased significantly over the past several decades. While a number of studies, largely in children with neurodevelopmental disorders with insomnia, have suggested that melatonin is generally safe and well-tolerated, a similar body of evidence is overall lacking for typically developing children and prospective studies regarding long-term adverse events are lacking. In addition, recent studies have raised concerns regarding the variable content of melatonin in over-the-counter products, as well as safety issues relating to accidental ingestions.
Due to a number of concerns regarding inappropriate use, lack of efficacy and safety data across pediatric populations and variability in actual content, melatonin should be used with caution in children and only under medical supervision.
褪黑素对儿科人群的影响尚未得到广泛研究。本叙述性综述旨在总结当前关于褪黑素对儿童的疗效和安全性以及其临床应用中潜在陷阱的文献，以帮助儿科医生做出基于证据的建议，从而维护患者及其家庭的最大利益。
使用PubMed搜索词“褪黑素、儿科学、儿童/青少年”对儿科人群中褪黑素的文献进行了综述。
在过去几十年中，全球儿科人群中褪黑素的使用显著增加。虽然一些主要针对患有失眠症的神经发育障碍儿童的研究表明，褪黑素总体上是安全且耐受性良好的，但对于发育正常的儿童总体上缺乏类似的证据，并且缺乏关于长期不良事件的前瞻性研究。此外，最近的研究引发了对非处方产品中褪黑素含量可变以及与意外摄入相关的安全问题的担忧。
由于对不当使用、儿科人群中缺乏疗效和安全性数据以及实际含量的可变性存在诸多担忧，褪黑素在儿童中应谨慎使用，且仅在医疗监督下使用。
