Beneficial effect of melatonin treatment on age-related insulin resistance and on the development of type 2 diabetes.

Abstract This paper will review the effect of aging on glucose metabolism and insulin resistance in pancreas and in peripheral tissues and how melatonin administration could affect these parameters. In SAMP8 mice insulin levels in plasma were found to be increased together with enhanced HOMA-IR values, whereas insulin content in pancreas showed a decrease with aging. Aging in SAMP8 mice was also associated with a significant increase in the relative expression of both protein and mRNA of different pro-inflammatory mediators. Furthermore, aging was associated with a decrease in the expression of Pdx-1, FoxO 1 and FoxO 3A and Sirt 1 in pancreas SAMP8 samples. Melatonin administration was able to reduce these age-related alterations, decreasing plasma insulin levels and increasing its pancreatic content in SAMP8 mice. HOMA-IR was decreased with melatonin treatment in all animals. Conversely, in SAMP8 mice, melatonin treatment decreased the expression of glucagon, GLUT2, somatostatin and insulin. Furthermore it was also able to increase the expression of Sirt 1, Pdx-1 and FoxO 3A. The present study has shown that aging is associated with significant alterations in the relative expression of pancreatic genes involved in both insulin secretion and glucose metabolism and that these are associated with an increase in inflammation and oxidative stress. Melatonin administration was able to reduce oxidative stress and inflammation and thus to improve pancreatic function in old mice. By doing so, insulin resistance is diminished and plasma insulin is reduced, enhancing insulin pancreatic content and reducing plasma glucose levels and HOMA index.