Affiliations 

  • 1 School of Health Science, International Medical University, 57000, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 2 School of Pharmacy, Monash University Malaysia, 47500, Selangor, Malaysia
  • 3 School of Health Science, International Medical University, 57000, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. chye_soimoi@imu.edu.my
Cell Mol Neurobiol, 2020 Jan;40(1):25-51.
PMID: 31435851 DOI: 10.1007/s10571-019-00724-1

Abstract

The progressive loss of structure and functions of neurons, including neuronal death, is one of the main factors leading to poor quality of life. Promotion of functional recovery of neuron after injury is a great challenge in neuroregenerative studies. Melatonin, a hormone is secreted by pineal gland and has antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic properties. Besides that, melatonin has high cell permeability and is able to cross the blood-brain barrier. Apart from that, there are no reported side effects associated with long-term usage of melatonin at both physiological and pharmacological doses. Thus, in this review article, we summarize the pharmacological effects of melatonin as neuroprotectant in central nervous system injury, ischemic-reperfusion injury, optic nerve injury, peripheral nerve injury, neurotmesis, axonotmesis, scar formation, cell degeneration, and apoptosis in rodent models.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.