ABSTRACT
The major secretory product of the pineal gland, melatonin (MEL), is known to have strong reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenger properties, in addition to hormonal functions (Tan et al. 2003). Due to its solubility in both lipids and water, MEL can easily pass the blood-brain barrier and access the neurons and glial cells, which suggests the possibility of its utilization as an effective neuroprotective agent. The efcacy of MEL has been investigated in both animal models for several neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Alzheimer’s disease and in traumatic brain injury and cerebral artery occlusion models (Esposito and Cuzzocrea 2010). Experimental data suggest that there might be a common link in the pathogenesis for ROS. Monoaminergic neuron systems, which include the dopaminergic and serotonergic neuron systems, especially appear to be susceptible to ROS-induced damage.
