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Increase Seen in Melatonin Secretion After Cataract Surgery

Melatonin secretion increased following prompt surgery with clear or yellow intraocular lens

FRIDAY, March 6, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Cataract surgery seems to increase melatonin secretion in adults aged 60 years or older, according to a study published online March 5 in JAMA Ophthalmology.

Tomo Nishi, M.D., Ph.D., from the Nara Medical University School of Medicine in Japan, and colleagues examined whether cataract surgery modifies melatonin secretion at three months after cataract surgery in 169 adult patients (aged 60 years or older) in a parallel-group trial. Patients were randomly assigned to four groups to receive prompt surgery with a clear intraocular lens (IOL) or prompt surgery with a yellow IOL (intervention groups) or delayed surgery with a clear IOL or delayed surgery with a yellow IOL (control groups).

The researchers found that independent of baseline urinary melatonin excretion and potential confounders, mean urinary melatonin excretion was significantly higher in the intervention versus the control groups (adjusted mean difference of creatinine concentration, 0.159 log ng/mg). Comparing the groups that received a clear IOL, concentration of urinary melatonin excretion was higher for the intervention versus the control group; there was no significant difference noted when comparing the groups that received a yellow IOL. There was no significant difference seen in the concentration of mean urinary melatonin excretion for patients in the intervention groups.

“The results of this study suggest that increased light perception by cataract surgery may align the internal biological rhythm with the external environment accompanied by increased melatonin secretion,” the authors write.

Several authors disclosed financial ties to industry.

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