Expression of Concern: The effects of melatonin supplementation on mental health, metabolic and genetic profiles in patients under methadone maintenance treatment
Assessed by RV017 · Evidence Synthesis Methodolodgy Editor
Assessed on 25 Feb 2026
OverallReviewer's overall integrity assessment, derived from all research questions Serious concerns
DOI 10.1111/adb.12650 (opens in new tab)
Resource ripekg:research-integrity-assessment/RIPEA1CF9367F3C1B1AFC
5 Research Questions · 59 Evidence Items
Q1.1 — Does the study have an associated retraction?
Rationale: No rationale provided
Supporting Evidence (1)
Retraction NoticeSource: Retraction Watch database
Melatonin administration lowers biomarkers of oxidative stress and cardio-metabolic risk in type 2 diabetic patients with coronary heart disease: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial
10.1016/j.clnu.2025.08.014 (opens in new tab)RetractionWatch ID:Record identifier in the Retraction Watch database 67384
Rationale: Concerns/Issues About Data;Concerns/Issues about Results and/or Conclusions;Investigation by Journal/Publisher;Investigation by Third Party;Objections by Author(s);Unreliable Results and/or Conclusions
About Authors: Zatollah Asemi, Vahidreza Ostadmohammadi, Fariba Raygan, Russel Reiter, Fereshteh Bahmani
Q1.2 — Does the study have an associated expression of concern or other relevant post-publication notice?
Rationale: Expression of concern on the journal website - concerns with feasibility and integrity of the research undertaken. Two PubPeer comments expressing concerns about the publications from this research group. No public response from author team.
Supporting Evidence (2)
PubPeer ThreadSource: PubPeer.com — post-publication peer review comments
https://pubpeer.com/publications/6E649C2ECB97A6E7412ADF05B576FF (opens in new tab)PubPeer CommentSource: PubPeer.com — a platform for post-publication peer review
There are many concerns about the integrity of 172 publications by this research group, including this one. Some of the concerns are published 1. Anaesthesia 2020;75:1683–92, see Supplementary data. This paper is A132 2. Account Res 2020;28:149-61. 3. J Clin Epidemiol 2021;131:22-29. Journals and publishers were notified of these concerns in July 2019. 18 publications have an expression of concern, and 6 have been retracted. To our knowledge there has been no public response about any of the concerns. We think these publications are unreliable
Thread: https://pubpeer.com/publications/6E649C2ECB97A6E7412ADF05B576FF (opens in new tab)
PubPeer CommentSource: PubPeer.com — a platform for post-publication peer review
Expression of Concern, found here: "This Expression of Concern is for the above article, published online on 27 June 2018 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com), and has been published by agreement between the journal Editor-in-Chief, Rainer Spanagel, Society for the Study of Addiction, and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. The Expression of Concern has been agreed due to concerns raised regarding the integrity of the research and discrepancies in reporting. An investigation has been conducted by the National Committee for Ethics in Biomedical Research Iran, in coordination with Kashan University of Medical Sciences (KAUMS). However, without the verification of clinical records there remain sufficient doubts about the feasibility and integrity of the research undertaken. As a result, the journal has decided to issue an Expression of Concern to alert readers."
Thread: https://pubpeer.com/publications/6E649C2ECB97A6E7412ADF05B576FF (opens in new tab)
Q1.3 — Do other studies by the research team highlight causes for concern?
Rationale: Retraction Watch mentions many of the author team with many publications retracted. Comments on PubPeer also highlight concerns with publications from this research team.
Supporting Evidence (54)
Retraction NoticeSource: Retraction Watch database
The Effect of Zinc Supplementation on Expressed Levels of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor Gamma and Glucose Transporter Type 1 Genes in Newborns of Women with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus
10.1007/s12011-016-0788-y (opens in new tab)RetractionWatch ID:Record identifier in the Retraction Watch database 28454
Rationale: Concerns/Issues About Data;Investigation by Company/Institution;Updated to Retraction
About Authors: Mehri Jamilian, Mansooreh Samimi, Esmat Aghadavod
Retraction NoticeSource: Retraction Watch database
Effects of Selenium Supplementation on Gene Expression Levels of Inflammatory Cytokines and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in Patients with Gestational Diabetes
10.1007/s12011-017-1045-8 (opens in new tab)RetractionWatch ID:Record identifier in the Retraction Watch database 28465
Rationale: Concerns/Issues About Data;Investigation by Company/Institution
About Authors: Mehri Jamilian, Mansooreh Samimi, Esmat Aghadavod, Faraneh Afshar Ebrahimi
Retraction NoticeSource: Retraction Watch database
The Effect of Zinc Supplementation on Expressed Levels of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor Gamma and Glucose Transporter Type 1 Genes in Newborns of Women with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus
10.1007/s12011-022-03501-2 (opens in new tab)RetractionWatch ID:Record identifier in the Retraction Watch database 40895
Rationale: Concerns/Issues About Data;Concerns/Issues About Image;Concerns/Issues about Referencing/Attributions;Duplication of/in Article;Investigation by Company/Institution;Unreliable Results and/or Conclusions;Upgrade/Update of Prior Notice(s)
About Authors: Mehri Jamilian, Mansooreh Samimi, Esmat Aghadavod
Q2.2 — Are there concerns relating to the timing or absence of study registration?
Rationale: Recruitment of participants started two weeks before the registration of the trial. It was retrospectively registered. The recruitment window was less than three weeks, so by the time of registration, it was likely that most participants were recruited.
Supporting Evidence (2)
Clinical Trial RegistrationSource: Clinical trial registry (e.g. ClinicalTrials.gov, ISRCTN)
Registration ID: IRCT2017072933551N3
Registry: IRCT
Registry Link: https://trialsearch.who.int/Trial2.aspx?TrialID=IRCT2017072933551N3 (opens in new tab)
Registration Date: 17 Aug 2017
Prospective:Whether the trial was registered before participant recruitment began No
Assessment Rationale:How INSPECT-AI determined the prospective registration status by comparing dates Registration date is after LLM recruitment start date.
Study Design EvidenceDates and timelines extracted by INSPECT-AI from the publication text
Recruitment Start: 03-08-2017
Recruitment Start Rationale:INSPECT-AI's reasoning for how it identified the recruitment start date Methods: 'The subjects were recruited from August 3, 2017 to August 21, 2017'.
Recruitment End: 21-08-2017
Recruitment End Rationale:INSPECT-AI's reasoning for how it identified the recruitment end date Methods: 'The subjects were recruited from August 3, 2017 to August 21, 2017'.
Study End: 20-11-2017
Study End Rationale:INSPECT-AI's reasoning for how it identified the study end date Methods: 'Then, the intervention was conducted among 54 patients undergoing MMT, aged 25-70 years from August 22, 2017 to November 20, 2017'.
Overall — What is the overall integrity assessment of the study?
Rationale: Serious concerns due to expression of concern published on the journal website and multiple retracted studies identified by the same author team.