Renal clearance of melatonin

Abstract

Only two publications exist in which actual values for the renal clearance of intact melatonin in man is described. The melatonin clearance values were, however, obtained either after the oral intake of melatonin, or by applying different techniques for the determination of melatonin in urine and plasma. In this study, renal clearance of melatonin was determined during the hours where melatonin concentrations are relatively constant. Melatonin levels in plasma and urine respectively were each deter­mined by three analytical techniques, i.e. the Fraser, NID and WHB methods. The results show renal clearance of melatonin to be under 2 ml/min and that higher values are obtained with analytical techniques which bypass the extraction process.