title: Melatonin prevents oxidative stress-induced cell death in hippocampal cells.
abstract: The pineal hormone melatonin has been suggested to be a very effective antioxidant in the brain. Oxidative stress may play a role in certain neuropathological conditions and the hippocampus is an early target of neurodegeneration. Using cells of the clonal hippocampal cell line HT22 and organotypic hippocampal rat brain slice cultures, we investigated a possible protective role of melatonin against oxidative stress-induced hippocampal cell death. Glutamate alone induced oxidative apoptotic cell death in HT22 cells as detected with Hoechst staining and DNA fragmentation analysis. Preincubation with 1 mM melatonin protected HT22 cells against glutamate-induced cell death and protected organotypic hippocampal slices against H2O2-induced cell death. These findings suggest that this neurohormone may be useful in the prevention of neurodegenerative diseases.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Department of Neuroendocrinology, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lezoualc'h
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Skutella
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Widmann
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Behl
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001562:Benzimidazoles; D016923:Cell Death / Q000187:drug effects*; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D002999:Clone Cells; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis; D004249:DNA Damage; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D018698:Glutamic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide / Q000633:toxicity; D008297:Male; D008550:Melatonin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D009924:Organ Culture Techniques; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects*; D010545:Peroxides / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D001562:Benzimidazoles; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D010545:Peroxides; D018698:Glutamic Acid; D004247:DNA; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide; D008550:Melatonin; C017807:bisbenzimide ethoxide trihydrochloride