Melatonin’s Impact on Antioxidative and Anti-Inflammatory Reprogramming in Homeostasis and Disease

Abstract

There is a growing consensus that the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of melatonin are of great importance in preserving the body functions and homeostasis, with great impact in the peripartum period and adult life. Melatonin promotes adaptation through allostasis and stands out as an endogenous, dietary, and therapeutic molecule with important health benefits. The anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects of melatonin are intertwined and are exerted throughout pregnancy and later during development and aging. Melatonin supplementation during pregnancy can reduce ischemia-induced oxidative damage in the fetal brain, increase offspring survival in inflammatory states, and reduce blood pressure in the adult offspring. In adulthood, disturbances in melatonin production negatively impact the progression of cardiovascular risk factors and promote cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases. The most studied cardiovascular effects of melatonin are linked to hypertension and myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury, while the most promising ones are linked to regaining control of metabolic syndrome components. In addition, there might be an emerging role for melatonin as an adjuvant in treating coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID 19). The present review summarizes and comments on important data regarding the roles exerted by melatonin in homeostasis and oxidative stress and inflammation related pathologies.

Melatonin inhibits proliferation and viability and promotes apoptosis in colorectal cancer cells via upregulation of the microRNA-34a/449a cluster

“…Therefore, improved chemotherapeutic agents that display little to no unfavorable off-target effects need to be identified. Melatonin is a natural hormone that does not display toxicity and regulates numerous physiological processes, including the circadian rhythm and antioxidative processes (63,64). An increasing number of studies have demonstrated that melatonin also possesses anticancer properties in several types of cancer (65,66), for example, melatonin inhibits proliferation and invasion via repression of miRNA-155 in glioma cells (45).…”

COVID-19 Pathophysiology Predicts That Ischemic Stroke Occurrence Is an Expectation, Not an Exception—A Systematic Review

“…In support of this more generalized theoretical approach, our group has demonstrated here the expected neurological impact of shared pathobiology between AIS and COVID-19 here, and the debilitating condition that characterizes PCNS ( 150 ) manifests as chronic fatigue, impaired thinking, depression, anxiety, breathing difficulties, and muscle weakness ( 40 , 40 , 149 , 150 ). Thus, we suggest that treatment with known Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved immunomodulatory hormones such as melatonin ( 14 , 15 , 33 , 156 – 162 ) and nutraceuticals such as curcumin ( 163 ) might be expected to enhance the likelihood of PCNS patients benefitting from any neurorehabilitation interventions as a matter of priority.…”

Antioxidative Molecules in Human Milk and Environmental Contaminants

“…By regulating the circadian rhythm and thereby reducing chronodisruption, fewer oxidative reagents are generated [ 69 ]. Its antioxidant functions have been reviewed extensively [ 69 , 90 ]. Because its first, second and third tier metabolites retain their scavenger function, melatonin induces an antioxidant cascade that quenches ten radical products, which makes it more efficient than glutathione [ 69 , 90 ].…”