Clinical trial NCT05602688: Melissa Officinalis L. Supplementation for Emotional Health and Sleep Disturbance
Official title: Study to Investigate Melissa Officinalis L. Supplementation for Emotional Health and Sleep Disturbance: A Perspective, Randomized, Double-blinded, Placebo-controlled, Parallel-group Clinical Trial
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Depression
Anxiety
Stress
Insomnia
Lead sponsor: Ayub Teaching Hospital
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2022-11-02
Enrollment: 102
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 65
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Brief summary: This study is aimed to investigate if Lemon Balm Extract supplementation is beneficial for the relief of stress, depression and anxiety in healthy adults.

Detailed description: Lemon balm (Botanical name: Melissa officinalis L.) is a herbal plant belongs to the Lamiaceae (mint) family, and currently of wide scientific interest as possible adjuvant for calming effect. Lemon balm is one of the most popular and widely used medicinal herbs in central and southern Europe, the Mediterranean region, and west Asia. The European Scientific Cooperative on Phytotherapy (ESCOP) recommends the use of lemon balm to relieve of mild symptoms of anxiety, including mental stress, restlessness, and irritability. Historically, Lemon balm has been widely used in Asian traditional medicine as a sedative to treat many psychiatric disorders, such as stress, depression, anxiety, and insomnia. Lemon balm has shown anti-depressant, anxiolytic, and anti-insomnia effects both in human clinical trials and in animal model studies.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Healthy individuals, aged 18 - 65 years
* Individuals suffering from moderate degree of depression, anxiety, and stress with DASS scores ≥14, ≥10, and ≥19, respectively, or individual with sleep problems with Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) score ≥5.
* Willing to participate in the study

Exclusion Criteria:

* Current use of prescribed medication or supplements for neuropsychiatric and sleep disorders
* Known history of neuropsychiatric or sleep disorders
* Current use or history of illicit substances misuse
* History of any allergic reactions to ingredients of the Lemon Balm Extract
* Hypertension (systolic blood pressure ≥ 140 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure ≥ 90, or other cardiovascular disease
* Hyperthyroidism or Diabetes mellitus or cancer
* Use of blood thinners like Coumadin (warfarin) or Plavix (clopidogrel), Glaucoma medications like Travatan (travoprost), Chemotherapy drugs like tamoxifen and Camptosar (irinotecan)
* Severe medical problem, which in the opinion of the investigator would pose a safety risk to the subject

Primary outcomes:
measure: Changes in the level of depression
timeFrame: 3 weeks
measure: Changes in the level of anxiety
timeFrame: 3 weeks
measure: Changes in the level of stress
timeFrame: 3 weeks
measure: Changes in sleep quality
timeFrame: 3 weeks
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Changes in mental wellbeing
timeFrame: 3 weeks
measure: Changes in Positive and Negative Emotional Feelings
timeFrame: 3 weeks
measure: Changes in the Quality of Life (QoL)
timeFrame: 3 weeks
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Abbottābād
country: Pakistan
facility: Ayub Teaching Hospital
Study officials:
References:
citation: Alijaniha F, Naseri M, Afsharypuor S, Fallahi F, Noorbala A, Mosaddegh M, Faghihzadeh S, Sadrai S. Heart palpitation relief with Melissa officinalis leaf extract: double blind, randomized, placebo controlled trial of efficacy and safety. J Ethnopharmacol. 2015 Apr 22;164:378-84. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2015.02.007. Epub 2015 Feb 11.
citation: Araj-Khodaei M, Noorbala AA, Yarani R, Emadi F, Emaratkar E, Faghihzadeh S, Parsian Z, Alijaniha F, Kamalinejad M, Naseri M. A double-blind, randomized pilot study for comparison of Melissa officinalis L. and Lavandula angustifolia Mill. with Fluoxetine for the treatment of depression. BMC Complement Med Ther. 2020 Jul 3;20(1):207. doi: 10.1186/s12906-020-03003-5.
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citation: Haybar H, Javid AZ, Haghighizadeh MH, Valizadeh E, Mohaghegh SM, Mohammadzadeh A. The effects of Melissa officinalis supplementation on depression, anxiety, stress, and sleep disorder in patients with chronic stable angina. Clin Nutr ESPEN. 2018 Aug;26:47-52. doi: 10.1016/j.clnesp.2018.04.015. Epub 2018 May 19.
citation: Heydari N, Dehghani M, Emamghoreishi M, Akbarzadeh M. Effect of Melissa officinalis capsule on the mental health of female adolescents with premenstrual syndrome: a clinical trial study. Int J Adolesc Med Health. 2018 Jan 25;31(3):/j/ijamh.2019.31.issue-3/ijamh-2017-0015/ijamh-2017-0015.xml. doi: 10.1515/ijamh-2017-0015.
citation: Kennedy DO, Little W, Haskell CF, Scholey AB. Anxiolytic effects of a combination of Melissa officinalis and Valeriana officinalis during laboratory induced stress. Phytother Res. 2006 Feb;20(2):96-102. doi: 10.1002/ptr.1787.
citation: Kennedy DO, Little W, Scholey AB. Attenuation of laboratory-induced stress in humans after acute administration of Melissa officinalis (Lemon Balm). Psychosom Med. 2004 Jul-Aug;66(4):607-13. doi: 10.1097/01.psy.0000132877.72833.71.
citation: Kennedy DO, Scholey AB, Tildesley NT, Perry EK, Wesnes KA. Modulation of mood and cognitive performance following acute administration of Melissa officinalis (lemon balm). Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2002 Jul;72(4):953-64. doi: 10.1016/s0091-3057(02)00777-3.
citation: Kennedy DO, Wake G, Savelev S, Tildesley NT, Perry EK, Wesnes KA, Scholey AB. Modulation of mood and cognitive performance following acute administration of single doses of Melissa officinalis (Lemon balm) with human CNS nicotinic and muscarinic receptor-binding properties. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2003 Oct;28(10):1871-81. doi: 10.1038/sj.npp.1300230.
citation: Ranjbar M, Firoozabadi A, Salehi A, Ghorbanifar Z, Zarshenas MM, Sadeghniiat-Haghighi K, Rezaeizadeh H. Effects of Herbal combination (Melissa officinalis L. and Nepeta menthoides Boiss. & Buhse) on insomnia severity, anxiety and depression in insomniacs: Randomized placebo controlled trial. Integr Med Res. 2018 Dec;7(4):328-332. doi: 10.1016/j.imr.2018.08.001. Epub 2018 Aug 10.
citation: Ranjbar M, Salehi A, Rezaeizadeh H, Zarshenas MM, Sadeghniiat-Haghighi K, Mirabzadeh M, Firoozabadi A. Efficacy of a Combination of Melissa officinalis L. and Nepeta Menthoides Boiss. & Buhse on Insomnia: A Triple-Blind, Randomized Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial. J Altern Complement Med. 2018 May 9. doi: 10.1089/acm.2017.0153. Online ahead of print.
citation: Shirazi M, Jalalian MN, Abed M, Ghaemi M. The Effectiveness of Melissa Officinalis L. versus Citalopram on Quality of Life of Menopausal Women with Sleep Disorder: A Randomized Double-Blind Clinical Trial. Rev Bras Ginecol Obstet. 2021 Feb;43(2):126-130. doi: 10.1055/s-0040-1721857. Epub 2021 Jan 19.
citation: Soltanpour, A., et al., Effects of Melissa officinalis on anxiety and sleep quality in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery: A double-blind randomized placebo controlled trial. European Journal of Integrative Medicine, 2019. 28: p. 27-32
citation: Cases J, Ibarra A, Feuillere N, Roller M, Sukkar SG. Pilot trial of Melissa officinalis L. leaf extract in the treatment of volunteers suffering from mild-to-moderate anxiety disorders and sleep disturbances. Med J Nutrition Metab. 2011 Dec;4(3):211-218. doi: 10.1007/s12349-010-0045-4. Epub 2010 Dec 17.