title: Future of melatonin as a therapeutic agent.
abstract: Report of the round table conference summarizing the International Symposium on "Melatonin: Clinical Significance and Therapeutic Applications" is presented in this article. Some sleep disorders and circadian rhythm disturbances are the widely accepted indications for melatonin treatment. However, other possibilities for use of melatonin in the therapy should be also taken into account, including a co-treatment in cancer patients and free radical-related diseases. All aspects of the possible therapeutic use of melatonin as well as its safety, dosage, side effects and contraindications are discussed herein based on the round table conference and they are presented in this paper.
authors.affiliation: Clinic of Endocrinology, Polish Mother's Memorial Hospital - Research Institute, Lodz, Poland. karasek@csk.am.lodz.pl
authors.forename: Michal
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Karasek
authors.forename: Russel J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Reiter
authors.forename: Daniel P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Cardinali
authors.forename: Marek
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pawlikowski
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000075202:Contraindications; D016166:Free Radical Scavengers; D006801:Humans; D008550:Melatonin / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy
chemical_list: D016166:Free Radical Scavengers; D008550:Melatonin