Melatonin Alone (melatonin + alone)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Treatment with testosterone or estradiol in melatonin treated females and males MRL/MpJ-Faslpr mice induces negative effects in developing systemic lupus erythematosus

JOURNAL OF PINEAL RESEARCH, Issue 2 2008
Antonio J. Jimenez-Caliani
Abstract:, MRL/MpJ-Faslpr mice is widely accepted as a valuable model of systemic lupus erythematosus. As described in a previous work, the incidence of lupus in this strain is determined by sex hormones, i.e., estrogens and androgens. Moreover, we reported that the immunomodulatory action of melatonin in these mice was gender-dependent probably through modulation and inhibition of sex hormones. Herein, we performed an experiment using hormone therapy, by treating female MRL-lpr mice with testosterone and males with estradiol and with melatonin. A decrease in total serum immunoglobulin (Ig)G and IgM immunoglobulin titers, anti-double-stranded DNA, and anti-CII autoantibodies in female mice treated with both melatonin and testosterone was revealed, along with an increase in pro-inflammatory cytokines [interleukin (IL)-2, IL-6, interferon-,, tumor necrosis factor-,, and IL-1,), nitrite/nitrate and a decrease in anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-10). Melatonin and estradiol treatment exhibited a similar effect in male mice. Autoantibody titer elevation and pro-inflammatory versus anti-inflammatory cytokine prevalence degraded all immunological parameters. Similar results were obtained when spleen and lymph node lymphocytes were cultured. Again, melatonin and testosterone treatment stimulated pro-inflammatory and reduced anti-inflammatory cytokines produced by lymphocytes in females. The effect was similar in males treated with melatonin and estradiol. In summary, we observed that although melatonin alone prevents lupus development in females, adding testosterone, increased pro-inflammatory cytokine pattern. In contrary, estradiol-treated males did not show any decrease in pro-inflammatory cytokines but showed an increase in regard to melatonin controls. These findings confirm that melatonin action in MRL/MpJ-Faslpr mice could be gender-dependent through modulation of sex hormones. [source]


Mechanisms of protection by melatonin against acetaminophen-induced liver injury in mice

JOURNAL OF PINEAL RESEARCH, Issue 3 2006
Tatsuya Matsura
Abstract:, The present study was performed to determine whether melatonin protects mouse liver against severe damage induced by acetaminophen (APAP) administration and where melatonin primarily functions in the metabolic pathway of APAP to protect mouse liver against APAP-induced injury. Treatment of mice with melatonin (50 or 100 mg/kg, p.o.) 8 or 4 hr before APAP administration (750 mg/kg, p.o.) suppressed the increase in plasma alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase activities in a dose- and a time-dependent manner. Melatonin treatment (100 mg/kg, p.o.) 4 hr before APAP administration remarkably inhibited centrilobular hepatic necrosis with inflammatory cell infiltration and increases in hepatic lipid peroxidation and myeloperoxidase activity, an index of tissue neutrophil infiltration, as well as release of nitric oxide and interleukin-6 into blood circulation at 9 hr after APAP administration. However, melatonin neither affected hepatic reduced glutathione (GSH) content nor spared hepatic GSH consumption by APAP treatment. Moreover, pretreatment with melatonin 4 hr before APAP administration did not influence the induction of hepatic heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) by APAP and melatonin alone did not induce HSP70 in mouse liver. These results indicate that exogenously administered melatonin exhibits a potent hepatoprotective effect against APAP-induced hepatic damage probably downstream of the activity of cytochrome P450 2E1, which works upstream of GSH conjugation in the pathway of APAP metabolism, via its anti-nitrosative and anti-inflammatory activities in addition to its antioxidant activity. [source]


Enhanced protection by melatonin and meloxicam combination in experimental infection by Trypanosoma cruzi

PARASITE IMMUNOLOGY, Issue 4 2010
L. G. R. OLIVEIRA
Summary The aim of this study was to evaluate a possible synergism between melatonin and meloxicam in up-regulating the immune response in male Wistar rats infected with Trypanosoma cruzi during immunosuppression phenomenon, which characterizes the acute phase of the Chagas' disease. Male Wistar rats were infected with the Y strain of T. cruzi. Experiments were performed on 7, 14 and 21 days post-infection. Several immunological parameters were evaluated including ,-interferon (IFN-,), interleukin-2 (IL-2), nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2). The combined treatment with melatonin and meloxicam significantly enhanced the release of IL-2 and INF-, into animals' serum, when compared with the infected control groups during the course of infection. Furthermore, the blockade of PGE2 synthesis and the increased release of NO by macrophage cells from T. cruzi -infected animals contributed to regulate the production of Th1 subset cytokines significantly reducing the parasitaemia in animals treated with the combination of both substances. Therefore, our results suggest that the association of melatonin and meloxicam was more effective in protecting animals against the harmful actions of T. cruzi infection as compared with the treatments of meloxicam or melatonin alone. [source]


Effect of Taurine and Melatonin in the Culture Medium on Buffalo In Vitro Embryo Development

REPRODUCTION IN DOMESTIC ANIMALS, Issue 1 2009
BM Manjunatha
Contents This study was carried out to investigate the effect of supplementing culture medium with different concentrations of taurine and melatonin, on buffalo oocyte in vitro meiotic maturation and embryo development. In experiment 1, oocytes were matured in vitro and the cleaved embryos were cultured in the same following seven culture medium; (i) control (TCM 199 + 10% SS); (ii) control + 0.5 mm taurine; (iii) control + 1 mm taurine; (iv) control + 3 mm taurine; (v) control + 5 ,m melatonin; (vi) control + 10 ,m melatonin and (vii) control + 50 ,m melatonin. In experiment 2, based on the results of experiment 1, to examine the synergistic effect of antioxidants, the oocytes were matured in culture medium (TCM199 + 10% SS), supplemented with both taurine at 1 mm and melatonin at 10 ,m concentration and the cleaved embryos were cultured in the same medium. Supplementation of taurine at 1 mm concentration in the culture medium resulted in a higher (p < 0.05) transferable embryo (TE) yield when compared with control (20.6% vs 14.1%). Supplementation of melatonin at 10 and 50 ,m concentration in the culture medium resulted in a higher (p < 0.05) meiotic maturation rate (90.3% and 88.8% respectively) and TE yield (28.4% and 27.2% respectively), than the other treatments. In experiment 2, the TE yield did not improve by supplementing the culture medium with both taurine and melatonin, when compared with melatonin alone. In conclusion, the results of this study demonstrated that, enriching the culture medium with taurine and melatonin, improves in vitro embryo production efficiency in buffaloes. In particular, a high TE yield was obtained by enriching the culture medium with 10 ,m melatonin. [source]