Laboratory of Neurogenesis, Division of Clinical Research, National Institute of Psychiatry, México, D.F., Mexico.
Neurosci Lett. 2012 Nov 14;530(1):53-8. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2012.09.045. Epub 2012 Oct 6.
Melatonin modulates adult hippocampal neurogenesis in adult mice. Also, plasma melatonin levels and new neuron formation decline during aging probably causing cognitive alterations. In this study, we analyzed the impact of exogenous supplementation with melatonin in three key events of hippocampal neurogenesis during normal aging of mice. The analysis was performed in rodents treated with melatonin during 3, 6, 9 or 12 months. We found an increase in cell proliferation in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus after 3, 6 and 9 months of treatment (>90%). Additionally, exogenous melatonin promoted survival of new cells in the dentate gyrus (>50%). Moreover, melatonin increased the number of doublecortin-labeled cells after 6 and 9 months of treatment (>150%). In contrast, melatonin administered during 12 months did not induce changes in hippocampal neurogenesis. Our results indicate that melatonin also modulates the neurogenic process in the hippocampus during normal aging of mice. Together, the data support melatonin as one of the positive endogenous regulators of neurogenesis during aging.
褪黑素调节成年小鼠海马神经发生。此外，随着年龄的增长，血浆褪黑素水平和新神经元形成下降，可能导致认知改变。在这项研究中，我们分析了外源性褪黑素补充对小鼠正常衰老过程中海马神经发生的三个关键事件的影响。该分析是在接受褪黑素治疗 3、6、9 或 12 个月的啮齿动物中进行的。我们发现，治疗 3、6 和 9 个月后，海马齿状回中的细胞增殖增加（>90%）。此外，外源性褪黑素促进了齿状回中新细胞的存活（>50%）。此外，褪黑素在治疗 6 和 9 个月后增加了双皮质素标记细胞的数量（>150%）。相比之下，在 12 个月内给予褪黑素不会引起海马神经发生的变化。我们的结果表明，褪黑素也调节小鼠正常衰老过程中海马的神经发生过程。总之，这些数据支持褪黑素作为衰老过程中神经发生的内源性正调控因子之一。
