OBJECTIVE Nutrients and antioxidants in the medium of immature oocyte have a profound effect on maturation, fertilization and development of resulting embryos. In this study the effects of melatonin as an antioxidant agent on maturation, glutathione level and expression of High mobility group box-1 (HMGB1) gene were evaluated in immature oocytes of mice stained with brilliant cresyl blue (BCB)....

SYNOPSIS. McCord and Allen (1917) found that extracts of mammalian pineal glands contain a potent contracting agent of larval amphibian melanophores. Lerner and his co-workers determined the chemical structure of this principle and named it melatonin. This agent contracts dermal melanophores at a concentration as low as 10" g/ml. Both intact and eyeless larval amphibians blanch when placed in t...

Melatonin is widely available as over the counter product. Despite promising effects of melatonin supplementation on glycemic control, there is a significant heterogeneity between studies. The current study aimed at determining the effect of melatonin on fasting blood glucose (FBG), insulin resistance/sensitivity indices, glycosylated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), and high sensitivity C-reactive prot...

 Objective(s):  Being secreted by the pineal gland, melatonin induces cell proliferation in normal cells and induced apoptosis in cancer cells. The purpose of this study was to investigate effects of melatonin on main components and the expression of apoptotic genes in vitrified-thawed testicular germ cells of 6- day–old mice.  Materials and Methods: Testes of neonate Balb/c mice were vitrifie...

In vivo effect of dexamethasone and melatonin on immunomodulation has been investigated by studying the lymphocyte proliferation to the mitogen Con A from various lymphoid tissues including bone marrow cells of a seasonally breeding rodent adult male F. pennanti during reproductively inactive phase (October to December). During this phase, animal faces the maximum challenges of the nature (hypo...

BACKGROUND Endothelial cells are of great interest for cell therapy and tissue engineering. Understanding the heterogeneity among cell lines originating from different sources and culture protocols may allow more standardized material to be obtained. In a recent paper, we showed that adrenalectomy interferes with the expression of membrane adhesion molecules on endothelial cells maintained in c...

Several data suggest that melatonin may influence avian reproduction by acting at the level of the hypothalamic-hypophisial-gonadal axis, and/or on neural circuits controlling reproductive behaviours. The action of melatonin is exerted through specific receptors whose distribution and pharmacological properties have been extensively investigated. This review will focus on the distribution, sexu...

Increasing evidence suggests that melatonin can exert some effect at nuclear level. Previous experiments using binding techniques clearly showed the existence of specific melatonin binding sites in cell nucleus of rat liver. To further identify these sites, nuclear extracts from rat hepatocytes were treated with different percentages of ammonium sulfate and purified by affinity chromatography. ...