Melatonin inhibits high voltage activated calcium currents in cultured rat dorsal root ganglion neurones.

The actions of melatonin on high-voltage activated calcium channels (HVACC) and intracellular free Ca(2+) concentration in cultured dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurones from neonatal rats were investigated using the whole-cell patch clamp and the fura-2 fluorescence ratio Ca(2+)-imaging techniques. HVACC were pharmacologically and biophysically isolated and the effects of melatonin were investigated. Extracellular application of melatonin inhibited HVACC in a dose dependent manner. In calcium imaging experiments, application of extracellular recording medium containing 30 mM KCl evoked increases in intracellular free Ca(2+) that were dependent upon external Ca(2+) ions. This increase was prevented by both low (10 microM) and high dose (100 microM) of melatonin pre-treatment. The results of this study indicate that the pineal hormone melatonin has inhibitory actions on voltage dependent calcium entry in cultured rat DRG neurones.