title: Melatonin's stimulatory effect on adult hippocampal neurogenesis in mice persists after ovariectomy.
abstract: In this study, we examined whether melatonin treatment would increase new cell formation in the hippocampus in ovariectomized (OVX) mice. Chronic exogenous melatonin administration increased bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) (OVX-sham 72 ± 3.2 versus OVX-mel 122 ± 12.0; P < 0.05) and doublecortin (DCX) (OVX-sham 88 ± 3.1 versus OVX-mel 176 ± 9.9; P < 0.05) immunoreactive cells in the hippocampus of ovariectomized mice. This neuronal development was correlated with synaptic plasticity, identified using the Golgi impregnation method to quantify dendritic spines in mouse dentate gyrus (DG). Finally, the antidepressant-like state of the animals was evaluated by the tail suspension test. The results indicate that melatonin acts on birth, survival, and differentiation of new neurons in the hippocampus, stimulates maturation of spines, and exerts an antidepressant-like action under estrogen-deprived conditions, in both a strain- and gender-independent manner, suggesting that this indoleamine may be useful in improving brain functions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine and Pharmacology, School of Medicine, University of Messina, Italy.
authors.forename: Rosalia
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Crupi
authors.forename: Emanuela
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mazzon
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marino
authors.forename: Giuseppina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: La Spada
authors.forename: Placido
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bramanti
authors.forename: Edoardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Spina
authors.forename: Salvatore
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cuzzocrea
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001973:Bromodeoxyuridine / Q000378:metabolism; D000089662:Doublecortin Protein; D004967:Estrogens / Q000097:blood; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects*; D008550:Melatonin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051379:Mice; D055495:Neurogenesis / Q000187:drug effects*; D010052:Ovariectomy
chemical_list: C000714847:Dcx protein, mouse; D000089662:Doublecortin Protein; D004967:Estrogens; D001973:Bromodeoxyuridine; D008550:Melatonin