Melatonin, a natural substance produced by human organism, can slow down cell death provoked by an acute infectious process that affects the whole organism technically known as sepsis, according to a thesis developed by Luis Carlos López García and supervised by the professor of the University of Granada, Darío Acuña Castroviejo and Germaine Escames. The author of the work entitled Mitochondrial Physiopathology in Experimental Sepsis: the Protective Effect of Melatonin explains that to come to this conclusion they have previously developed numerous experiments in the laboratory with normal and transgenic mice without the gene de la inducible nitric oxide synthase (a protein induced in the sepsis, and whose product, nitric oxide, causes damage to cell mitochondria).
In the animal experimentation phase they have tested how transgenics do not suffer cell damage and the mitochondria of tissues such as diaphragm, heart and skeletal muscle are sepsis resistant (infection generalized in the organism that affects all the organs of the body). With regard to normal mice with infectious processes, melatonin has completely prevented cell damage. These data reveal two essential facts: «First of all, that this disease is very common in humans and is caused by a super-production of nitric oxide, and that is why transgenic mice do not suffer any damage and, secondly, that melatonin is an inhibitor of such oxide and that is why it responds so well to the disease”, López García explains.
Great international impact
The research work, published in three prestigious journals in the field of Medicine, Critical Care of Medicine, Laboratory Investigation and Journal of Experimental Medicine and financed by Institute Carlos III of Madrid, is a continuation of a line of research previously developed in the Institute of Biotechnology. In fact, the previous results allowed an Italian research group to use of melatonin as a therapy against sepsis in newborns, with great results which have been implemented in some Italian hospitals.
Although this and other studies reveal the pharmacological applications of melatonin, there is a problem to test them in human patients as in Spain the use of this substance is banned due to bureaucratic and economic problems. As it is a natural substance it can not be patented and therefore “it is unprofitable for the big drug companies”, the scientist denounces after saying that, despite these difficulties, “we have hope for that this drug will be legalized and implemented in Spain in short like France and Italy to give a solution to the patients who suffer this disease”.
Besides this project, other projects of the Institute of Biotechnology in which melatonin has been used to prevent cell ageing and treat diseases such as Parkinson endorse the therapeutic qualities of this substance that “will be very important to treat difficult pathologies in the future”, the author of Mitochondrial Physiopathology in Experimental Sepsis: the Protective Effect of Melatonin says.
Reference
Author of the thesis: Luis Carlos López García
Institute of Biotechnology.
Phone numbers: 958 246630 (direct) / 958 24 66 31. Mobile 607 78 05 11
E-mail. luisca@ugr.es
Heads: Darío Acuña Castroviejo and Germaine Escames
Institute of Biotechnology.
Phone numbers: 958 246631 (direct) / Mobile: Darío Acuña Castroviejo 616 929 320
E-mail. dacuna@ugr.es / gescames@ugr.es
