Role of Melatonin in Schizophrenia

Abstract

Schizophrenia is a chronic mental disease that disturbs several cognitive functions, such as memory, thought, perception and volition. Schizophrenia’s biological etiology is multifactorial and is still under investigation. Melatonin has been involved in schizophrenia since the first decades of the twentieth century. Research into melatonin regarding schizophrenia has followed two different approaches. The first approach is related to the use of melatonin as a biological marker. The second approach deals with the clinical applications of melatonin as a drug treatment. In this paper, both aspects of melatonin application are reviewed. Its clinical use in schizophrenia is emphasized.

Melatonin treatment during the incubation of sensitization attenuates methamphetamine-induced locomotor sensitization and MeCP2 expression

“…We hypothesize that melatonin is effective in treating the incubation of sensitization via ameliorating the withdrawal symptoms of MA and protecting against MA induced neurotoxicity. Melatonin is clinically used to treat insomnia (Cardinali et al, 2012) and considered to be a biological marker of depressive disorder and schizophrenia (Morera-Fumero and Abreu-Gonzalez, 2013). Moreover, melatonin treatment attenuates the depressive-like state and chronic stress induced behavioral disturbance in mice (Crupi et al, 2010;Haridas et al, 2013).…”

Melatonin recovers sleep phase delayed by MK‐801 through the melatonin MT2 receptor‐ Ca2+‐CaMKII‐CREB pathway in the ventrolateral preoptic nucleus

“…Moreover, even if they are based on mice that unlikely humans and rats have a circadian rhythm in constant darkness shorter than 24 hours, 26 they may partially explain the positive effects shown by MLT in the treatment of sleep impairments in patients with psychosis. 47 Indeed, NMDAR hypofunction following the administration of MK-801 is one of strategies used to model in some rodents but not all of the symptoms of human psychosis including stereotypy and hyperactivity. 48,49 In conclusion, our data demonstrate that MLT can improve NMDAR-mediated sleep impairments by acting on the homeostatic sleep center VLPO through a mechanism involving the MLT MT 2 receptor-Ca 2+ -CaMKII-CREB pathway.…”

Melatoninergic System in Parkinson’s Disease: From Neuroprotection to the Management of Motor and Nonmotor Symptoms

“…Interestingly, the reduction on nocturnal melatonin production occurs in early stages of AD [75]. Low night levels of melatonin are also commonly reported in schizophrenia patients [83]. …”