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Beneficial effects of melatonin on improvement of neurological function in focal cerebral ischemic rats
Author(s) -
Lee Seunghoon,
Lee Minkyung,
Shin Jinhee,
Hong Yonggeun
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.25.1_supplement.1024.20
Subject(s) - melatonin , medicine , ischemia , neurotrophic factors , anesthesia , saline , endocrinology , receptor
The antioxidative effects of melatonin are known for its protective role against ischemic/reperfusion injury. In this view point the present study was carried out to investigate the effect of long term administration of melatonin on improvement of neurological functions after focal cerebral ischemia in rats. Following the MCAo, the 8 week old Sprague‐Dawley (SD) rats were treated twice daily with melatonin (10 mg/kg) at 7 and 19 hrs and control group animals were treated with autoclaved distilled water or physiological saline instead of melatonin. After 8 weeks of MCAo, the rat brains were collected for gene analysis and histological measurement. Histological data showed the significant reduction in the loss of neural cells on the primary motor cortex in melatonin treated rats. The gene expression data showed the downregulation of iNOS and nNOS whereas the neurotrophic factor, BDNF was significantly upregulated in melatonin treated MCAo rats brain (p<.01). In addition the behavioral test showed the rapid restoration of neurological dysfunction in melatonin treated rats at 4 weeks. However, only the trivial recovery with mild injury score was noticed in non‐treated rats after 8 weeks. Based on the present study, the improvement in the neurological dysfunction following the melatonin treatment in MCAo animals strongly suggest the possible use of melatonin as a therapeutic agent for the focal cerebral ischemia.