Dun‐Xian Tan

Melatonin was found to be a potent free radical scavenger in 1993. Since then over 800 publications have directly or indirectly confirmed this observation. Melatonin scavenges a variety of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species including hydroxyl radical, hydrogen peroxide, singlet oxygen, nitric oxide and peroxynitrite anion. Based on the analyses of structure-activity relationships, the indole moiety of the melatonin molecule is the reactive center of interaction with oxidants due to its high resonance stability and very low activation energy barrier towards the free radical reactions. However, the methoxy and amide side chains also contribute significantly to melatonin's antioxidant capacity. The N-C=O structure in the C3 amide side chain is the functional group. The carbonyl group in the structure of N-C=O is key for melatonin to scavenge the second reactive species and the nitrogen in the N-C=O structure is necessary for melatonin to form the new five membered ring after melatonin's interaction with a reactive species. The methoxy group in C5 appears to keep melatonin from exhibiting prooxidative activity. If the methoxy group is replaced by a hydroxyl group, under some in vitro conditions, the antioxidant capacity of this molecule may be enhanced. However, the cost of this change are decreased lipophility and increased prooxidative potential. Therefore, in in vivo studies the antioxidant efficacy of melatonin appears to be superior to its hydroxylated counterpart. The mechanisms of melatonin's interaction with reactive species probably involves donation of an electron to form the melatoninyl cation radical or through an radical addition at the site C3. Other possibilities include hydrogen donation from the nitrogen atom or substitution at position C2, C4 and C7 and nitrosation. Melatonin also has the ability to repair damaged biomolecules as shown by the fact that it converts the guanosine radical to guanosine by electron transfer. Unlike the classical antioxidants, melatonin is devoid of prooxidative activity and all known intermediates generated by the interaction of melatonin with reactive species are also free radical scavengers. This phenomenon is defined as the free radical scavenging cascade reaction of the melatonin family. Due to this cascade, one melatonin molecule has the potential to scavenge up to 4 or more reactive species. This makes melatonin very effective as an antioxidant. Under in vivo conditions, melatonin is often several times more potent than vitamin C and E in protecting tissues from oxidative injury when compared at an equivalent dosage (micromol/kg). Future research in the field of melatonin as a free radical scavenger might be focused on: 1), signal transduction and antioxidant enzyme gene expression induced by melatonin and its metabolites, 2), melatonin levels in tissues and in cells, 3), melatonin structure modifications, 4), melatonin and its metabolites in plants and, 5), clinical trials using melatonin to treat free radical related diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, stroke and heart disease.

Melatonin is a tryptophan-derived molecule with pleiotropic activities. It is present in almost all or all organisms. Its synthetic pathway depends on the species in which it is measured. For example, the tryptophan to melatonin pathway differs in plants and animals. It is speculated that the melatonin synthetic machinery in eukaryotes was inherited from bacteria as a result of endosymbiosis. However, melatonin's synthetic mechanisms in microorganisms are currently unknown. Melatonin metabolism is highly complex with these enzymatic processes having evolved from cytochrome C. In addition to its enzymatic degradation, melatonin is metabolized via pseudoenzymatic and free radical interactive processes. The metabolic products of these processes overlap and it is often difficult to determine which process is dominant. However, under oxidative stress, the free radical interactive pathway may be featured over the others. Because of the complexity of the melatonin degradative processes, it is expected that additional novel melatonin metabolites will be identified in future investigations. The original and primary function of melatonin in early life forms such as in unicellular organisms was as a free radical scavenger and antioxidant. During evolution, melatonin was selected as a signaling molecule to transduce the environmental photoperiodic information into an endocrine message in multicellular organisms and for other purposes as well. As an antioxidant, melatonin exhibits several unique features which differ from the classic antioxidants. These include its cascade reaction with free radicals and its capacity to be induced under moderate oxidative stress. These features make melatonin a potent endogenously-occurring antioxidant that protects organisms from catastrophic oxidative stress.

This brief resume enumerates the multiple actions of melatonin as an antioxidant. This indoleamine is produced in the vertebrate pineal gland, the retina and possibly some other organs. Additionally, however, it is found in invertebrates, bacteria, unicellular organisms as well as in plants, all of which do not have a pineal gland. Melatonin's functions as an antioxidant include: a), direct free radical scavenging, b), stimulation of antioxidative enzymes, c), increasing the efficiency of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation and reducing electron leakage (thereby lowering free radical generation), and 3), augmenting the efficiency of other antioxidants. There may be other functions of melatonin, yet undiscovered, which enhance its ability to protect against molecular damage by oxygen and nitrogen-based toxic reactants. Numerous in vitro and in vivo studies have documented the ability of both physiological and pharmacological concentrations to melatonin to protect against free radical destruction. Furthermore, clinical tests utilizing melatonin have proven highly successful; because of the positive outcomes of these studies, melatonin's use in disease states and processes where free radical damage is involved should be increased.