Melatonin treatment counteracts the hyperoxidative status in erythrocytes of patients suffering from Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Objectives: To analyze whether the antioxidant melatonin could reduce the hyperoxidative status in the blood of patients with Duchenne's muscular dystrophy. Design and methods: Ten patients aged 12.8 +/- 0.9 years were treated with melatonin (60 mg at 21:00 h plus 10 mg at 09:00 h) for 9 months, and erythrocyte markers of oxidative stress were determined at 3, 6, and 9 months of treatment. Healthy age- and sex-matched subjects served as controls. Results: Prior to treatment, the patients had higher glutathione disulfide/glutathione ratio and higher glutathione transferase and superoxide dismutase activities, and lower glutathione reductase activity than controls. After 3 months of melatonin treatment, the hyperoxidative status of these patients was counteracted, being reduced to the normal redox state between 3 and 9 months. Conclusion: These results, together with the reduction in the inflammatory process and in muscle injury recently reported in the same patients, support the efficacy of melatonin therapy in DMD patients. (C) 2011 The Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.