Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30774488›Full record

ArticleNature and science of sleep2019

Could long-term administration of melatonin to prepubertal children affect timing of puberty? A clinician's perspective.

Addo Boafo, Stephanie Greenham, Shuliweeh Alenezi, Rébecca Robillard, Kathleen Pajer, Paniz Tavakoli, Joseph De Koninck

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Nature and science of sleep, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
21citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
3.4field-weighted citation impact, top 7% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

21 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 59 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Melatonin: A Review of the Evidence for Use in Hospital Settings.Pharmacology research & perspectives · 2025
    Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Review
  9. Review
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. Review
  14. Article
  15. Review
  16. Article
  17. Melatonin Use in Pediatrics: Evaluating the Discrepancy in Evidence Based on Country and Regulations Regarding Production.The journal of pediatric pharmacology and therapeutics : JPPT : the official journal of PPAG · 2021
    Review
  18. Review
  19. Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Addo BoafoChildren's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Ottawa, ON, Canada, ABoafo@cheo.on.ca.
Stephanie GreenhamChildren's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Ottawa, ON, Canada, ABoafo@cheo.on.ca.
Shuliweeh AleneziChildren's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Ottawa, ON, Canada, ABoafo@cheo.on.ca.
Rébecca RobillardSchool of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Kathleen PajerChildren's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Ottawa, ON, Canada, ABoafo@cheo.on.ca.
Paniz TavakoliChildren's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Ottawa, ON, Canada, ABoafo@cheo.on.ca.
Joseph De KoninckSchool of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
University of Ottawa · CAChildren's Hospital of Eastern Ontario · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Exogenous melatonin can be used to treat sleep disturbance in adults, children, and adolescents. While its short-term use is considered safe, there are some concerns that long-term use might delay children's sexual maturation, possibly by disrupting the decline in nocturnal melatonin levels that occur at the onset of puberty. This narrative review aimed to summarize some of the current knowledge about the potential effects of exogenous melatonin on puberty. We found no clinical studies that experimentally tested the effects of melatonin on pubertal timing in children, but we reviewed the small number of observational studies. We also drew on animal data to try to answer our question. The photoperiod and melatonin-mediated seasonal transitions in sexual activity and breeding in some mammals across the seasons have been used as a model of sexual development in mammals, including humans. The switch from non-sexual activity (in the non-breeding period) to sexual activity (in the breeding period) has been likened to the onset of puberty as there are similarities between the two. We conclude that to investigate an association between melatonin and pubertal timing, it will be important to conduct long-term randomized controlled trials of latency age children and also examine the cellular and systems-level interactions between melatonin and kisspeptin, a recently identified neuropeptide with a locus of action at the gonadotropin releasing hormone neurons that is important in contributing to the timing of puberty onset.

Indexed as

hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal-axiskisspeptinmelatoninpubertysleep disturbance

Identifiers

PMID30774488
PMCPMC6362935
OpenAlexW2914428606

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.