Therapeutic applications of melatonin

Therapeutic applications of melatonin.

Melatonin is a methoxyindole synthesized within the pineal gland. The hormone is secreted during the night and appears to play multiple roles within the human organism. The hormone contributes to the regulation of biological rhythms, may induce sleep, has strong antioxidant action and appears to contribute to the protection of the organism from carcinogenesis and neurodegenerative disorders. At a therapeutic level as well as in prevention, melatonin is used for the management of sleep disorders and jet lag, for the resynchronization of circadian rhythms in situations such as blindness and shift work, for its preventive action in the development of cancer, as additive therapy in cancer and as therapy for preventing the progression of Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders.

Терапевтическое применение мелатонина.
Kostoglou-Athanassiou И.
Мелатонин является метоксииндол синтезируются внутри шишковидной железы. Гормон выделяется в ночное время и, кажется, играют несколько ролей в человеческом организме. Гормон способствует регуляции биологических ритмов, может вызвать сон, имеет решительные меры антиоксидантной и, кажется, способствовать защите организма от канцерогенеза и нейродегенеративных расстройств. В терапевтическом уровне, а также в профилактике, мелатонин используется для управления нарушениями сна и смены часовых поясов, для повторной синхронизации циркадных ритмов в таких ситуациях, как слепота и сменной работы, для его принятия превентивных мер в развитии рака, в качестве добавки терапия при раке и в качестве терапии для предотвращения прогрессирования болезни Альцгеймера и других нейродегенеративных заболеваний.

Curr Aging Sci. 2012 Dec;5(3):231-5.

Cancer as the main aging factor for humans: the fundamental role of 5-methoxy-tryptamine in reversal of cancer-induced aging processes in metabolic and immune reactions by non-melatonin pineal hormones.

Aging and advanced cancer are characterized by similar neuroendocrine and immune deficiencies; the most important of them consist of diminished nocturnal production of the pineal hormone melatonin (MLT) and decreased production of IL-2. At present, however, it is known that the pineal gland may produce indole hormones other than MLT. The most investigated of them is represented by 5-methoxy-tryptamine (5-MTT), which may exert antitumor, anticachectic, and immunomodulating effects under experimental conditions, in addition to those effects produced by MLT itself. In an attempt to obtain some preliminary data in human subjects about the potential therapeutic properties of 5-MTT, three different studies of 5-MTT have been carried out in advanced solid tumor patients. The first study of MLT plus 5-MTT included 14 thrombocytopenic cancer patients who did not respond to MLT alone. In the second study we have compared the clinical efficacy of MLT plus 5-MTT in a group of 25 untreatable metastatic cancer patients to the results obtained in a control group of 25 cancer patients receiving MLT alone. Finally, the third study of MLT plus 5-MTT included 14 untreatable metastatic cancer patients who did not respond to MLT alone. In all of these studies, MLT and 5-MTT were given orally at the level of 20 mg/day in the evening and at 5 mg/day during the period of maximum light. A normalization of platelet number was achieved by MLT plus 5-MTT in 5 of 14 (36%) thrombocytopenic cancer patients who did not respond to MLT alone. The percentage of disease control obtained by MLT plus 5-MTT in untreatable metastatic cancer patients was significantly higher than that achieved by MLT alone (15/25 [60%] vs. 8/25 [32%], P < 0.05). Finally, the association of 5-MTT with MLT induced disease stabilization in 4 of 14 (29%) untreatable metastatic cancer patients who did not respond to MLT alone.