Melatonin protects human spermatozoa from apoptosis via melatonin receptor– and extracellular signal–regulated kinase-mediated pathways

Evidences for the Role of Melatonin as a Protective Additive During Buffalo Semen Freezing

“…Additionally, melatonin at 0.1 mM enhanced the acrosomal integrity and viability index of buffalo sperm cells. This melatonin improving effect might be due to a potent scavenging effect of melatonin on NO and Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) that directly and indirectly affect the sperm viability by triggering the sperm apoptosis (Du Plessis et al, 2010;Espino et al, 2011). Therefore, the beneficial effect of melatonin on the freezability and in vitro fertilizing potentials may be attributed to its positive effect on antioxidant enzymes.…”

Melatonin modulates the expression of BCL-xl and improve the development of vitrified embryos obtained by IVF in mice

“…Although melatonin protects different cells by powerful scavenger actions, melatonin membrane receptors [MT1 (Mtnr1a), MT2 (Mtnr1b) and MT3] play an important role in cell protection [23]. Melatonin MT1 receptors have been localized in various tissues but melatonin MT2 receptors are mainly found in the brain, although their presence has also been detected in other tissues [24,25].…”

Melatonin diminishes oxidative damage in sperm cells,improving assisted reproductive techniques

“…However, a significant increase was displayed when samples were swum-up, and the ratio of compaction was even higher when samples were preincubated with melatonin ( Figure 5B), which, according to previous studies, is a potential improvement in fertility (Hekmatdoost et al, 2009). Obviously, melatonin cannot improve DNA compaction during the short time of sperm preparation for ART; however, these results could indicate that melatonin enhances the migration of sperm cells with compacted DNA ( Figure 5B) and even prevents DNA fragmentation (Figure 6), as previously shown by Espino et al (2011) when describing the molecular mechanisms involved in melatonin protection from oxidative stress. In any case, melatonin improves the quality of sperm samples at the DNA level for ART.…”