Does melatonin have an effect on the treatment of type 1 diabetes?

Question

Type 1 Diabetes is a chronic disease characterized by the body's inability to regulate blood sugar due to a disabled pancreas' not producing insulin. People with diabetes regulate their own blood sugar "manually," by administering insulin either by syringe, pen, or pump to lower blood sugar levels, and sugar or glucagon to raise it.

Different substances can have unintended effects on the treatment of diabetes; for example, caffeine can raise blood sugar (possibly because it can be a stressor) while alcohol will do funky things like raising it and dropping it quickly. Acetaminophen doesn't appear to affect blood sugars, but it can affect the accuracy of a continuous glucose monitor.

So I'd like to know what, if any, affects melatonin might have on the treatment of T1DM -- has this been studied at all?

Answer 1

It appears that melatonin decreases blood pressure in a way that occurs nocturnally in normal persons. Interestingly, it is being investigated as a possible anti-hypertensive in Type 2 diabetics. It doesn't seem to have any undesirable side effects, making it an ideal anti-hypertensive.

In patients with diabetes the mean BP during sleep was lower on melatonin than before treatment... In controls there was no significant effect of melatonin on BP. There was no significant effect of sleep duration or number of awakenings on the BP responses.

It appears to have other effects on T2DM, but that is primarily on beta-cells, which should not affect someone with T1DM.

_{Blood pressure-lowering effect of melatonin in type 1 diabetes.}