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Light Exposure at Night, Urinary 6-Sulfatoxymelatonin, and Serum Estrogens and Androgens in Postmenopausal Japanese Women

¹ Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine, and ² Gihoku General Hospital, Gifu, Japan

Requests for reprints: Chisato Nagata, Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-1 Yanagido, Gifu 501-1194, Japan. Phone: 81-58-230-6411; Fax: 81-58-230-6413. E-mail: chisato{at}gifu-u.ac.jp

It has been hypothesized that exposure to light at night increases the risk of breast cancer by suppressing the normal nocturnal increase in melatonin production and release, thereby resulting in increased levels of circulating estrogen. We assessed associations among concentrations of serum estrogen and androgen and the principal metabolite of melatonin in urine, 6-sulfatoxymelatonin, and exposure to light at night based on information regarding the sleeping habits and history of graveyard-shift work of 206 postmenopausal Japanese women. Serum estradiol level was significantly higher in women who were not asleep at or after 1:00 a.m. (the approximate time of the melatonin peak) than those who were asleep after controlling for covariates. Significantly increased estrone levels were observed in women who had worked graveyard shift. Serum testosterone and DHEA sulfate were unrelated to sleeping habits and history of graveyard-shift work. Urinary 6-sulfatoxymelatonin was lower in women who were not asleep at or after 1:00 a.m. on weekends than those who were asleep at this time, but the difference was of borderline significance (P = 0.08). There was no significant association between urinary 6-sulfatoxymelatonin and any serum hormone levels. These data suggest that exposure to light at night has implications for the risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women. However, the potential role of melatonin as an intervening factor between light exposure at night and the serum concentrations of estrogen was equivocal. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2008;17(6):1418–23)