title: Melatonin prevents neural tube defects in the offspring of diabetic pregnancy.
abstract: Melatonin, an endogenous neurohormone secreted by the pineal gland, has a variety of physiological functions and neuroprotective effects. However, its protective role on the neural tube defects (NTDs) was not very clear. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of melatonin on the incidence of NTDs (including anencephaly, encephalocele, and spina bifida) of offspring from diabetic pregnant mice as well as its underlying mechanisms. Pregnant mice were given 10 mg/kg melatonin by daily i.p. injection from embryonic day (E) 0.5 until being killed on E11.5. Here, we showed that melatonin decreased the NTDs (especially exencephaly) rate of embryos exposed to maternal diabetes. Melatonin stimulated proliferation of neural stem cells (NSCs) under hyperglycemic condition through the extracellular regulated protein kinases (ERK) pathway. Furthermore, as a direct free radical scavenger, melatonin decreased apoptosis of NSCs exposed to hyperglycemia. In the light of these findings, it suggests that melatonin supplementation may play an important role in the prevention of neural malformations in diabetic pregnancy.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education for Experimental Teratology, Department of Histology and Embryology, Shandong University School of Medicine, Jinan, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: Shangming
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education for Experimental Teratology, Department of Histology and Embryology, Shandong University School of Medicine, Jinan, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education for Experimental Teratology, Department of Histology and Embryology, Shandong University School of Medicine, Jinan, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: Qiuhuan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Shandong University School of Medicine, Jinan, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education for Experimental Teratology, Department of Histology and Embryology, Shandong University School of Medicine, Jinan, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: Liyan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education for Experimental Teratology, Department of Histology and Embryology, Shandong University School of Medicine, Jinan, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education for Experimental Teratology, Department of Histology and Embryology, Shandong University School of Medicine, Jinan, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: Fuwu
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pathology and Pathophysiology, Shandong University School of Medicine, Jinan, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: Jingjing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education for Experimental Teratology, Department of Histology and Embryology, Shandong University School of Medicine, Jinan, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: Aijun
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hao
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D003921:Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental / Q000188:drug therapy; D005260:Female; D006943:Hyperglycemia / Q000188:drug therapy; D008550:Melatonin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D051379:Mice; D009436:Neural Tube Defects / Q000188:drug therapy*; D011247:Pregnancy
chemical_list: D008550:Melatonin
keywords: gestational diabetes mellitus; hyperglycemia; melatonin; neural stem cells; neural tube defects