Student Research Committee, School of Medicine, Bam University of Medical Sciences, Bam 44340847, Iran.
Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Avicenna Tajik State Medical University, 73400 Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
Cells. 2019 Jul 5;8(7):681. doi: 10.3390/cells8070681.
Melatonin is a widespread molecule among living organisms involved in multiple biological, hormonal, and physiological processes at cellular, tissue, and organic levels. It is well-known for its ability to cross the blood-brain barrier, and renowned antioxidant effects, acting as a free radical scavenger, up-regulating antioxidant enzymes, reducing mitochondrial electron leakage, and interfering with proinflammatory signaling pathways. Detected in various medicinal and food plants, its concentration is widely variable. Plant generative organs (e.g., flowers, fruits), and especially seeds, have been proposed as having the highest melatonin concentrations, markedly higher than those found in vertebrate tissues. In addition, seeds are also rich in other substances (lipids, sugars, and proteins), constituting the energetic reserve for a potentially growing seedling and beneficial for the human diet. Thus, given that dietary melatonin is absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract and transported into the bloodstream, the ingestion of medicinal and plant foods by mammals as a source of melatonin may be conceived as a key step in serum melatonin modulation and, consequently, health promotion.
褪黑素是一种广泛存在于生物体中的分子，参与细胞、组织和器官水平的多种生物、激素和生理过程。它以能够穿过血脑屏障和具有显著的抗氧化作用而闻名，作为自由基清除剂，可上调抗氧化酶、减少线粒体电子泄漏，并干扰促炎信号通路。褪黑素在各种药用植物和食用植物中都有检测到，其浓度差异很大。植物的生殖器官（如花、果实），特别是种子，被认为具有最高的褪黑素浓度，明显高于脊椎动物组织中的浓度。此外，种子还富含其他物质（脂质、糖和蛋白质），是潜在生长的幼苗的能量储备，对人类饮食有益。因此，鉴于膳食褪黑素在胃肠道中被吸收并运输到血液中，哺乳动物食用药用植物和植物性食物作为褪黑素的来源，可能被认为是调节血清褪黑素水平和促进健康的关键步骤。
