Can Melatonin Help Prevent Alzheimer's Disease?

Abstract

In previous studies, the orthomolecular species melatonin has been found to have a tremendous impact on the β-amyloid peptide that causes Alzheimer's disease. Melatonin has been shown to inhibit oxidative stress and the death of neurons and neuroblastoma cells exposed to the peptide. The purpose of research on an orthomolecular species such as melatonin is to determine how the chemical substance reacts with a disease or abnormality by restoring proper levels of the chemical substance in the brain. The first step in the process of researching the effects of melatonin on the Alzheimer's β-amyloid peptide is to make melatonin water soluble. Studies suggest that melatonin powder can become water soluble when mixed with water at 20 °C or 50 °C. Studies have also shown that melatonin is soluble in ethanol. This study utilized all three techniques to create melatonin solutions. Melatonin in a fine powder was added to water at 20 °C, water at 50 °C, and ethanol at 20 °C. All three solutions were centrifuged to gather only the water soluble aspects of the melatonin solutions. The melatonin concentration of each solution was determined using a calibration curve. The calibration curve was created using a UV/vis machine to measure the absorbances of serially diluted solutions with known concentrations made from pure melatonin. The presence of melatonin in each solution was confirmed using ATR-IR spectroscopy by comparing spectra of each solution to a melatonin reference spectra. Each solution was combined with β-amyloid peptide and Congo red and measured in the UV/vis for a week. Each solution was combined with the β-amyloid peptide and measured with ATR-IR for a week. The data was then analyzed and compared to solutions with β-amyloid peptide and no melatonin.