Normalizing effect of the pineal gland peptides on the daily melatonin rhythm in old monkeys and elderly people.

Korkushko OV, Lapin BA, Goncharova ND, Khavinson VKh, Shatilo VB, Vengerin AA, Antoniuk-Shcheglova IA, Magdich LV. Adv Gerontol. 2007.

Organ: pineal-circadian · Type: clinical · Peptides: Epithalamin, Epitalon

PMID: 17969590

In old monkeys and elderly people, Epithalamin and Epitalon were reported to restore night-time melatonin and the circadian amplitude of the hormone — combined primate and human work, not a large blinded RCT.

Editorial summary of a 2007 original article in Advances in Gerontology (Russian title with English abstract). Combined old-monkey and elderly-human work. Public pages cite PubMed only. Read the paper: PMID 17969590.

Methods

The authors measured plasma melatonin across the day in aging monkeys and in elderly people, then administered pineal peptide preparations — Epithalamin (a pineal peptide complex) and Epitalon (synthetic tetrapeptide) — and re-measured night release and circadian amplitude. The English abstract does not give sample sizes, doses, or blinding. Those details belong in the primary text.

Findings

The authors report that aging in both monkeys and people lowered night and average daily plasma melatonin and reduced circadian amplitude, which they read as disordered pineal melatonin-releasing function. Both preparations recovered night release of endogenous melatonin and normalized the hormone’s circadian rhythm in plasma. In elderly people they describe a state-dependent effect: those with pineal functional insufficiency showed an increase of night melatonin. They state that the preparations had no side effects in this work and can be used in clinical geriatric practice.

That last sentence is the authors’ recommendation, not a regulatory approval. This is one combined primate/human series. Follow the PMID.