Enlarged Spleen & Melatonin

[Guest guest]

To All:

A couple of weeks ago I was asking for possible explanations on the

discomfort I was feeling on my right side, under the rib cage. When

I saw my Doctor on November 13th he confirmed that my spleen was

enlarged and the probable cause was it was assisting the liver's

job. The Doctor believed that as my LFT's approached the normal

range the spleen would hopefully heal.

Today I was searching the web for enlarged spleen (AKA splenomegaly)

and stumbled on the following:

Noradrenaline causes the spleen to contract by autonomic

stimulation.2,3 Noradrenaline expression follows a circadian rhythm

related to sleep.4 MELATONIN production has also been shown to

suppress noradrenaline.5 Concentrations of noradrenaline are lowest

at night, allowing the spleen to engorge with blood and appear

swollen in the morning. Noradrenaline is released during the course

of a day causing the spleen to contract. This concentration is

further amplified by taking corticosteroids which stimulate

sympathetic activity.

The magnitude of this diurnal variation in spleen size has not been

previously reported. It is possible that this phenomenon may be going

unnoticed in other patients with splenomegaly. If management

decisions are based on the size of the spleen, diurnal variation

could have an impact on decisions made. It is important that repeated

splenic measurements are made at the same time of day.

The article can be viewed in its entirety at:

http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/m0833/n9129_v352/21093501/p1/article.

jhtml

My conclusion is that the melatonin herbal supplements I take each

night to promote sleep may be adding to my spleen enlargement and

discomfort. Or am I misunderstanding this article? Any feedback

would be welcome.

Patty O'