Melatonin as anti-ageing therapy against cardiovascular diseases and neurological disorders

Melatonin is primarily known as a sleep hormone. However, it also serves as a powerful antioxidant and has an anti-ageing effect at a cellular level throughout the body, according to a review article of melatonin’s numerous functions. Our endogenous melatonin synthesis decreases with age, making us more vulnerable in many ways. Ageing is associated with oxidative stress and “inflammaging”, which can lead to cardiovascular diseases and neurological disorders like depression, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease. A melatonin supplement, on the other hand, works as a natural anti-ageing therapy against such diseases.

Melatonin is a hormone that controls our 24-hour clock and different physiological processes in the body. It is produced in the pineal gland in the brain, from where there is a direct nerve connection to the retina of the eye. When the retinas are exposed to daylight, the body synthesizes serotonin, which is a melatonin precursor. At nightfall when it gets dark, the body converts serotonin into melatonin that helps us fall asleep, stay asleep, and dream. The pineal gland’s melatonin production depends on the interchange between day and night according to the astronomical day.
Melatonin is also a powerful antioxidant that protects cells and tissues against free radical damage. It can also stimulate the body’s production of other important antioxidants like glutathione peroxidase (GPX), catalase, and superoxide dismutase. Melatonin is even able to repair damage to the mitochondrial membrane, control cholesterol levels, boost the immune system and many other things. Walter Pierpaoli and other scientists view melatonin as a miracle molecule.
Recent studies suggest that the lion’s share of the body’s melatonin synthesis takes place in the mitochondria, which are the cellular “powerhouses” that make energy. The mitochondria are also important for the body’s calcium signaling that is needed for nerve impulses, just like it supports apoptosis or programmed self-destruction of cells when they are worn out or something is wrong with them. Both the pineal gland and the mitochondria are therefore important for our melatonin synthesis.
Our total melatonin production decreases drastically with age. The melatonin production in the pineal gland of someone who is 80 years of age is less than 10 times that of a teenager. The decreasing melatonin production is caused by things like calcification of the pineal gland and decreased mitochondrial function and impaired energy synthesis. This leaves the body more exposed to oxidative stress, which is when free radicals outnumber the protective antioxidants. Free radicals can attack cholesterol, cells, tissues – including the pineal gland – by way of harmful chain reactions.
Oxidative stress is also linked to chronic inflammation, especially “inflammaging”, which is the kind of chronic inflammation that typically affects older people. A dysfunctional immune defense can increase the risk of infections that become complicated and potentially life-threatening. Inflammaging and oxidative stress are two basic factors in the ageing process and in the development of many chronic diseases.
The decreasing melatonin production contributes to the ageing process, which is why the authors behind the review article have compiled the most recent scientific insight into melatonin’s mechanisms and looked at how melatonin supplementation can be used as a natural way to prevent cardiovascular diseases and neurological disorders.

Age-related cardiovascular diseases

One of the dangerous aspects of oxidative stress is when free radicals attack cholesterol, which is an essential building block of all cell membranes and is needed to make vitamin D, Q10, cortisol, and sex hormones. Once cholesterol is attacked and oxidized by free radicals, it becomes worthless and is unable to support all of these functions. The oxidized cholesterol is engulfed by white blood cells (monocytes) and becomes embedded as foam cells in the blood vessels walls. It is this process that eventually sets the stage for atherosclerosis. As part of the ageing process, dysfunctions occur in the endothelial cells of the vessel wall. We are also exposed to stiff arteries and an increased risk of vessel lesions.
The heart, which contracts around 100,000 times per day, is also affected by ageing. The mitochondria of the heart muscle cells start to malfunction, causing the energy turnover to decrease, which leaves the mitochondria and the cells exposed to oxidative stress. This increases the risk of things like hypertrophy, fibrosis, and an altered calcium homeostasis that affects nerve impulses and the heart’s contractibility.
In their review article, the authors look at all of these heart conditions and how melatonin taken as a supplement can help prevent them by protecting against oxidative stress, chronic inflammation, and other dysfunction that are associated with ageing.

Age-related neurological disorders

Ageing also increases the risk of poor sleep, cognitive decline, and neurological disorders like dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), and Huntington’s disease. Ageing of the brain and the nervous system can be a result of different biochemical, metabolic, and morphological changes. The morphological changes can be seen at a microscopic level and include loss of neurons and dendritic cells and the accumulation of harmful and misfolded proteins. The accumulation of harmful proteins like beta-amyloid and tau is known to lead to Alzheimer’s disease. Studies of rats have shown loss of neurons in the hippocampus that is a part of the brain that is important for memory and sense of direction.
In healthy individuals, the brain’s blood flow and oxygen consumption remain normal when ageing sets in. But ageing is normally associated with atherosclerosis, even in the brain and carotid arteries, which impairs the blood supply to the brain and increases the risk of blood clots. Ageing is also associated with changes to the blood-brain-barrier that protects the brain against harmful compounds.
Ageing, oxidative stress, and chronic inflammation are often involved in atherosclerosis and damage to the neurons, dendritic cells, pineal gland, hippocampus, and other parts of the brain. Damaged brain cell mitochondria pose a particularly great threat because of the huge energy requirement of the brain.
The age-related decrease in our melatonin synthesis is a major reason why most people suffer from poor sleep and generally don’t sleep enough. This is very bad for your health because it is during the deep sleep phase that the brain cleanses out toxic proteins and other harmful compounds. It is well-known that lack of sleep increases the risk of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and other neurological disorders.
In their review article, the authors describe how melatonin supplements help to prevent age-related neurodegenerative disorders – especially by protecting the mitochondria, the neurons, and the tissues against oxidative damage and inflammaging.
The body’s ability to protect the mitochondria contributes to the maintenance of an optimal energy turnover and many other functions. Melatonin supplements can also improve our deep sleep, which is essential throughout life.

Melatonin supplementation

Supplementation with melatonin is a natural way to compensate for the decreasing endogenous production. Most people take melatonin for better sleep, to combat jet lag, and because they work nightshifts, but the supplement comes with many other health benefits
Melatonin tablets normally contain 3 mg of melatonin, and the normal dose is one tablet, 30 minutes to one hour before bedtime. The actual need for melatonin may differ from one person to another.
The review article recommends 3-12 mg of melatonin as an effective dose for sleep problems, and this dose can possibly also stop or delay various neurodegenerative disorders. Animal studies have experimented with higher doses (relative to body weight), so even higher doses may be needed. But more studies are required to find the optimal dose for humans with regard to neurodegenerative disorders.
Melatonin is one of the most widely sold supplements around the world. In countries like Denmark, it is a prescription drug, whereas it can be purchased over the counter in other EU countries.

Melatonin is important for:

• Cellular mitochondria
• Cellular energy production
• Antioxidant functions
• Producing other antioxidants
• Cell damage repaur during sleep
• Cholesterol levels
• The immune system
• Counteracting oxidative stress
• Counteracting chronic inflammation
• Health sleep that helps cleanse the brain
• Natural anti-ageing

References:

Virna Margarita Martin Giméned et al. Melatonin as an Anti-Aging Therapy for Age-Related Cardiovascular and Neurodegenerative Diseases. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience. 2022