Melatonin Enhances Muscle Regeneration.

Melatonin is a naturally occurring compound found in animals and plants. In animals, circulating levels of the hormone melatonin vary in a daily cycle, regulating sleep biology. Melatonin is a powerful anti-oxidant, Melatonin is prominently involved in neuroprotection and control of immune or inflammatory processes. Researchers from Germany published some interesting research in this month’s Journal of Pineal Research is a article titled, “Melatonin restores muscle regeneration and enhances muscle function after crush injury in rats.” The researchers took rats and basically crushed their leg muscles and allowed them to heal. One group of rats received melatonin while the other group received nothing. At the end of the study, the rats receiving melatonin had reduced leukocyte (immune) infiltration at day 1 after injury and increases at the same time the total satellite cell count after injury. This demonstrates that melatonin has powerful anti-oxidant capacity, which reduced muscle cell damage. The reduction in immune cell inflammatory molecules demonstrates that melatonin protects against muscle damage. These data support the hypothesis that melatonin supports muscle restoration after muscle injury, inhibits cellular damage, increases the number of satellite cells, and reduces inflammation which speeds muscle recuperation.

Stratos I, Richter N, Rotter R, Li Z, Zechner D, Mittlmeier T, Vollmar B. Melatonin restores muscle regeneration and enhances muscle function after crush injury in rats. J Pineal Res. 2011 Jun 27.