Abstract
Melatonin is an indolamine produced by the pineal gland and it can exert a potent antioxidant effect. Its free radical scavenger properties have been used to advantage in different organ transplants in animal experiments. Several concentrations and administration pathways have been tested and melatonin has shown encouraging beneficial results in many transplants of organs such as the liver, lungs, heart, pancreas, and kidneys. The objective of the present study was to review the scientific literature regarding the use of melatonin in ovary transplantation. A systematic review following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement was carried out using the Cochrane and Pubmed databases and employing the terms ‘melatonin’ AND ‘ovary’ AND ‘transplantation.’ After analysis, 5 articles were extracted addressing melatonin use in ovary transplants and involving 503 animals. Melatonin enhanced various graft aspects like morphology, apoptosis, immunological reaction, revascularization, oxidative stress, and survival rate. Melatonin’s antioxidative and antiapoptotic properties seemingly produce positive effects on ovarian graft activity. Despite the promising results, further studies in humans need to be conducted to consolidate its use, as ovary transplantation for fertility preservation is gradually being moved from the experimental stage to a clinical setting.
Highlights
Melatonin is an indolamine produced mainly by the pineal gland [1, 2] and it has a potent freeradical scavenger activity with subsequent antioxidant and antiapoptotic functions [1, 3, 4]
Notwithstanding a study which used 5 human xenotransplanted ovarian samples, all were studies which experimentally analyzed the effects of melatonin on animals
The potential effects of melatonin use in animal ovary transplantation align with previously reported positive findings of its application in many experimental transplants of such organs as the liver [8], lungs [9], heart [10], pancreas [11, 12] and kidneys [13]
Summary
Melatonin is an indolamine produced mainly by the pineal gland [1, 2] and it has a potent freeradical scavenger activity with subsequent antioxidant and antiapoptotic functions [1, 3, 4]. Unlike vitamin C, which is hydrophilic, and vitamin E, which is lipophilic, the melatonin molecule carries both hydrophilic and lipophilic affinities and diffuses broadly in diverse subcellular compartments like the membranes, cytoplasm, nucleus, and mitochondria [1, 4]. It has the ability to produce its antioxidative action rapidly and effectively as soon as the oxidative agents are produced [5]. There are reports about melatonin action on the rat ovary specific receptors MT1 and MT2 [6].
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