Formulation Of Melatonin Research Articles

Improvement of sleep quality in elderly people by controlled-release melatonin

SummaryMelatonin, produced by the pineal gland at night, has a role in regulation of the sleep-wake cycle. Among elderly people, even those who are healthy, the frequency of sleep disorders is high and there is an association with impairment of melatonin production. We investigated the effect of a controlled-release formulation of melatonin on sleep quality in 12 elderly subjects (aged 76 [SD 8] years) who were receiving various medications for chronic illnesses and who complained of insomnia.In all 12 subjects the peak excretion of the main melatonin metabolite 6-sulphatoxymelatonin during the night was lower than normal and/or delayed in comparison with non-insomniac elderly people. In a randomised, double-blind, crossover study the subjects were treated for 3 weeks with 2 mg per night of controlled-release melatonin and for 3 weeks with placebo, with a week's washout period. Sleep quality was objectively monitored by wrist actigraphy. Sleep efficiency was significantly greater after melatonin than after placebo (83 [SE 4] vs 75 [3]%, p<0·001) and wake time after sleep onset was significantly shorter (49 [14] vs 73 [13] min, p<0·001). Sleep latency decreased, but not significantly (19 [5] vs 33 [7] min, p=0·088). Total sleep time was not affected. The only adverse effects reported were two cases of pruritus, one during melatonin and one during placebo treatment; both resolved spontaneously.Melatonin deficiency may have an important role in the high frequency of insomnia among elderly people. Controlled-release melatonin replacement therapy effectively improves sleep quality in this population.

Reproductive research on farm animals for Australia--some long-distance goals.

In Australia, much of the research on the reproduction of farm animals has emphasised the technological manipulation of the reproductive tract, gametes and embryos. However, most of the animal production in Australia is still based on sheep and beef cattle enterprises that are managed on an extensive scale; the managers need technologies that can be easily and cheaply implemented on a large scale, and that are aimed at extensive control rather than intensive manipulation. For example, for synchronizing oestrus in the wool flocks the "ram effect' has, and probably always will have, far more impact on extensive grazing systems than technologies based on exogenous prostaglandins or progestagens. This can also apply to the newer animal industries (such as emu farming), to human problems (such as population control), and to environmental problems (such as control of feral animals). Moreover, under the pressure of public opinion, the industries that are currently intensive are going 'free range'. In addition, surgical managerial tools (such as castration) will probably have to be abandoned or replaced. To cope with such profound influences, new types of reproductive management systems will be needed. This paper is an attempt to broaden our research horizons by developing the concept of 'control systems technologies', aimed at controlling reproductive performance rather than simply improving it. Ideas for such technologies already exist and are evident in the responses to environmental factors that our farm animals developed under the pressure of natural selection (before domestication). Stress, nutrition, photoperiod, lactation, and socio-sexual cues (e.g. pheromones) can all exert profound effects on reproductive activity. We already have a good grasp of the final common pathway through which the brain responses to these factors affect gonadal activity, namely the hypothalamic system that generates pulses of gonadotrophin-releasing hormone. All we need to do is learn how the major environmental cues exert their impact on the systems that control the final common pathway. When we understand them, we shall be able to manipulate them. This is not too speculative; we already have several technologies that take advantage of this approach, including steroid-based contraceptives, the "ram effect', a vaccine-based antifertility treatment for rangeland cattle and the melatonin formulation used to control seasonal breeding in sheep. These and the other pathways linking environmental inputs to reproductive output are waiting to be explored, explained and exploited.