Time course of saliva and serum melatonin levels after ingestion of melatonin

Salival and serum melatonin levels after melatonin ingestion were measured by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Ingestion of 3 mg melatonin caused a marked increase in serum melatonin (3561 +/- 1201 pg/mL) within 20 min, followed by a gradual decrease, but the level still remained higher than the basal level at 240 min after the ingestion. The saliva melatonin 60 min after the ingestion showed the highest level (1177 +/- 403 pg/ mt) which was one-third of the plasma level. The saliva melatonin level was highly correlated with the serum level throughout the experimental period (r = 0.82, P = 0.0001). These data indicate that the measurement of saliva melatonin level may be a suitable indicator for the melatonin secretion into general circulation.