Journal
JOURNAL OF NEUROIMMUNOLOGY
Volume 158, Issue 1-2, Pages 106-111Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.jneuroim.2004.08.015
Keywords
rheumatoid arthritis; melatonin; corticosteroids; T-helper 1; inflammatory cytokines; Freund's adjuvant arthritis; cireadian rhythms
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The pineal neurohormone melatonin (MLT) has been widely shown to exert an immunostimulatory and antiapoptotic role, mainly by acting on Th cells and on T and B cell precursors, respectively. Thus, MLT might favor or promote autoimmune diseases by acting directly on immature and mature immunocompetent cells. In fact, preclinical and clinical evidence point to a disease-promoting role of MLT in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). MLT, whose concentration is increased in serum from RA patients, may act systemically or locally in the inflamed joints. The circadian secretion of MLT with a peak level during the night hours might be strictly correlated with the peculiar daily rhythmicity of the RA symptoms. In rat studies employing Freund's complete mycobacterial adjuvant (FCA) as a model of rheumatoid arthritis, pinealectomized rats turned arthritic and exhibited a significantly less pronounced inflammatory response, which was restored to normal by a low MLT dose and was aggravated by a pharmacological MLT dose, that augmented the inflammatory and immune response. Continued investigation will refine our understanding of these observations, which will possibly translate into improved therapeutic approaches. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available