Cited by 369Circadian rhythm and melatoninSleep and related disordersAdipokines, Inflammation, and Metabolic Diseases

Melatonin secretion and the incidence of type 2 diabetes

Open access
McMullan, Ciaran J., Schernhammer, Eva S., Rimm, Eric B., Hu, Frank B., Forman, John P.·2013·JAMA

Abstract

IMPORTANCE: Loss-of-function mutations in the melatonin receptor are associated with insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Additionally, in a cross-sectional analysis of persons without diabetes, lower nocturnal melatonin secretion was associated with increased insulin resistance. OBJECTIVE: To study the association between melatonin secretion and the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Case-control study nested within the Nurses' Health Study cohort. Among participants without diabetes who provided urine and blood samples at baseline in 2000, we identified 370 women who developed type 2 diabetes from 2000-2012 and matched 370 controls using risk-set sampling. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Associations between melatonin secretion at baseline and incidence of type 2 diabetes were evaluated with multivariable conditional logistic regression controlling for demographic characteristics, lifestyle habits, measures of sleep quality, and biomarkers of inflammation and endothelial dysfunction. RESULTS: The median urinary ratios of 6-sulfatoxymelatonin to creatinine were 28.2 ng/mg (5%-95% range, 5.5-84.2 ng/mg) among cases and 36.3 ng/mg (5%-95% range, 6.9-110.8 ng/mg) among controls. Women with lower ratios of 6-sulfatoxymelatonin to creatinine had increased risk of diabetes (multivariable odds ratio, 1.48 [95% CI, 1.11-1.98] per unit decrease in the estimated log ratio of 6-sulfatoxymelatonin to creatinine). Compared with women in the highest ratio category of 6-sulfatoxymelatonin to creatinine, those in the lowest category had a multivariable odds ratio of 2.17 (95% CI, 1.18-3.98) of developing type 2 diabetes. Women in the highest category of melatonin secretion had an estimated diabetes incidence rate of 4.27 cases/1000 person-years compared with 9.27 cases/1000 person-years in the lowest category. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Lower melatonin secretion was independently associated with a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Further research is warranted to assess if melatonin secretion is a modifiable risk factor for diabetes within the general population.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1001/jama.2013.2710

Cites

55 of 55 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
McMullan, C. J., Schernhammer, E. S., Rimm, E. B., Hu, F. B., & Forman, J. P.
Affiliations
  • Harvard University (US)
  • Brigham and Women's Hospital (US)
Corresponding author
McMullan, Ciaran J.
Venue
JAMA
Published
2013-04-03
Volume
309
Issue
13
Pages
1388
ISSN
  • 0002-9955 (ISSN-L)
  • 0098-7484
OpenAlex
W2086677877
Cited by
369
References
54
Citations by year
2026: 15 · 2025: 21 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 30 · 2022: 29 · 2021: 26 · 2020: 36 · 2019: 25 · 2018: 43 · 2017: 24 · 2016: 28 · 2015: 39 · 2014: 28 · 2013: 6
FWCI
18.18
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • JAMA (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard (DASH) (Harvard University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (R01HL103607, HL103607)
  • National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R01DK058845, DK58845)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Circadian rhythm and melatonin
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and related disorders
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Adipokines, Inflammation, and Metabolic Diseases
Keywords
melatonin secretion, type 2 diabetes, 6-sulfatoxymelatonin, urinary melatonin metabolites, insulin resistance, diabetes risk, women, sleep quality, inflammation, endothelial dysfunction
MeSH terms
Aged, Creatinine, Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2, Female, Humans, Melatonin, Middle Aged, Regression Analysis, Risk Factors, United States, Cohort Studies, Incidence, Case-Control Studies

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review