Role of Melatonin in Caudal Spinal Trigeminal Nucleus

Previous research indicates that melatonin has a major role in pain transmission and has an ultra-sensitizing effect.

Dr. Fang Huang and colleagues from Sun Yat-sen University in China for the first time located the distribution of melatonin receptor 1 in the caudal spinal trigeminal nucleus. Their results, published in the Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 8, No. 32, 2013), showed that when melatonin receptor 1 expression in the caudal spinal nucleus is significantly reduced, melatonin's regulatory effect on pain is attenuated.

Melatonin
Melatonin is the body’s master hormone with several significant functions, including the monitoring of other hormones and regulating the sleep-wake cycle.

Further study is required to determine whether the decreased melatonin receptor 1 expression in the central caudal trigeminal spinal nucleus can attenuate the analgesic effect of the melatonin/melatonin receptor/nitric oxide pathway.

Source-Eurekalert

Melatonin Helps Control Weight Gain: Research
Melatonin is a natural hormone segregated by the body and usually melatonin levels increase in the dark at night.

After Transplantation, Melatonin Pre-treatment Impacts Stem Cell Survival
When melatonin (a hormone secreted by the pineal gland) was used as a pre-treatment for mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) prior to their transplantation into the brains of laboratory animals to repair damage from stroke.

Melatonin Delays ALS Symptom Onset and Death in Mice: Pitt Team
According to a new study, melatonin injections delayed symptom onset and reduced mortality in a mouse model of the neurodegenerative condition amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).