Melatonin Effect on Platelet Count in Patients with Liver Disease

Thrombocytopenia occurs by exacerbating severity of liver disease. Reduction in the secretion of thrombopoetin, as an intrinsic hormone mainly produced by liver, plays an important role in this complication induced by liver disease. A positive effect of melatonin on platelet count in the patients with chronic liver disease was reported in the current study.

Design of this study was a double-blind, cross-over, placebo-controlled pilot study. The patients with liver disease were given two 5 mg pearls of melatonin or placebo for two weeks and after 2 weeks wash out period, we switched their groups. The liver function test and platelets count were assessed once at the beginning and once at the end of each phase of the study.

In the current study, 40 patients with eligible criteria were included. The average platelet count has significantly increased by melatonin in comparison with placebo (from 175.67±92.84 to 191.10±98.82 vs from 185.22±98.39 to 176.45±91.45) (p-value <0.001). Also, melatonin significantly reduced ALT, AST, total bilirubin, and direct and MELD scores in the patients with liver disease (p-value<0.05). Conclusion Melatonin may increase platelet count and inhibit thrombocytopenia in the patients with liver disease; however, more investigations are needed to confirm the obtained result.