Department of Orthopedics, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
J Pineal Res. 2017 Mar;62(2). doi: 10.1111/jpi.12372. Epub 2017 Jan 23.
Despite state-of-the-art pharmaceutical regimens, continuous improvements in diagnostic techniques as well as refinements in equipment and interventional procedures, many diseases remain refractory to conventional therapies. Recent advances in stem cell (SC) biology have opened an avenue to exploring its therapeutic potential in various disease entities, especially those that are ischemia-related and refractory to conventional treatment. A number of experimental studies and clinical trials have already demonstrated promising outcomes. On the other hand, SC therapy is associated with major problems. For instance, ischemia, inflammation, and oxidative stress are some of the factors unfavorable for SC survival once SCs are implanted into the ischemic area in an attempt to enhance tissue regeneration and restore organ function. Melatonin, which is originally derived from pineal gland in the regulation of human circadian rhythms and sleep, is a potent free radical scavenger and metal chelator with the capacity to alleviate oxidative stress and inflammatory reactions as well as stabilizing cell membranes. Accumulating data have demonstrated that melatonin-supported SC therapy is superior to SC alone for improving ischemia-related organ dysfunction. In this review, we describe and interpret the potential role of melatonin in sustaining the survival and preserving the functional integrity of SC.
尽管有最先进的药物治疗方案、诊断技术的不断改进以及设备和介入性手术的改进，许多疾病仍然对常规治疗方法有抗性。最近干细胞 (SC) 生物学的进展为探索其在各种疾病实体中的治疗潜力开辟了道路，特别是那些与缺血相关且对常规治疗有抗性的疾病。许多实验研究和临床试验已经显示出有希望的结果。另一方面，干细胞治疗也存在一些主要问题。例如，缺血、炎症和氧化应激是一些不利于干细胞存活的因素，因为一旦将干细胞植入缺血区域，就试图增强组织再生和恢复器官功能。褪黑素最初来源于松果腺，在调节人体昼夜节律和睡眠方面发挥作用，它是一种有效的自由基清除剂和金属螯合剂，具有减轻氧化应激和炎症反应以及稳定细胞膜的能力。越来越多的证据表明，褪黑素支持的干细胞治疗在改善与缺血相关的器官功能障碍方面优于单独使用干细胞。在这篇综述中，我们描述并解释了褪黑素在维持干细胞的存活和保持其功能完整性方面的潜在作用。
