Perinatal Use of Melatonin for Offspring Health: Focus on Cardiovascular and Neurological Diseases.
Cardiovascular and neurological diseases can originate in early life. Melatonin, a biologically active substance, acts as a pleiotropic hormone essential for pregnancy and fetal development. Maternal melatonin can easily pass the placenta and provide photoperiodic signals to the fetus. Though melatonin uses in pregnant or lactating women have not yet been recommended, there is a growing body of evidence from animal studies in support of melatonin as a reprogramming strategy to prevent the developmental programming of cardiovascular and neurological diseases. Here, we review several key themes in melatonin use in pregnancy and lactation within offspring health and disease. We have particularly focused on the following areas: the pathophysiological roles of melatonin in pregnancy, lactation, and fetal development; clinical uses of melatonin in fetal and neonatal diseases; experimental evidence supporting melatonin as a reprogramming therapy to prevent cardiovascular and neurological diseases; and reprogramming mechanisms of melatonin within developmental programming. The targeting of melatonin uses in pregnancy and lactation will be valuable in the prevention of various adult chronic diseases in later life, and especially cardiovascular and neurological diseases.
['Hsu|Chien-Ning|CN|0000-0001-7470-528X', 'Huang|Li-Tung|LT|0000-0001-7403-288X', 'Tain|You-Lin|YL|0000-0002-7059-6407']
D000818:Animals D000975:Antioxidants D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases D005260:Female D047109:Fetal Development D005315:Fetal Diseases D006801:Humans D007231:Infant, Newborn D007232:Infant, Newborn, Diseases D007774:Lactation D008550:Melatonin D009422:Nervous System Diseases D018384:Oxidative Stress D011247:Pregnancy
melatonin neurological disease pregnancy lactation developmental programming cardiovascular disease developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD) hypertension oxidative stress