Bacteriostatic Potential of Melatonin: Therapeutic Standing and Mechanistic Insights

Frontiers in Immunology

Pan Li¹  Yuanyi Peng¹  Yaoyao Xia²  Yuyi Ye²  Yikun Li²  Qingzhuo Zhang²  Fang He²  Xiaoyan Wu²  Shuai Chen³  Rüdiger Hardeland⁴ 

[1] College of Veterinary Medicine, Southwest University, Chongqing, China;Guangdong Laboratory of Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition Control, Institute of Subtropical Animal Nutrition and Feed, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China;Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changsha, China;Johann Friedrich Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany;

关键词: melatonin;    bacteriostasis;    MAPKs;    NF-κB;    ROS;    inflammasome;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fimmu.2021.683879

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Diseases caused by pathogenic bacteria in animals (e.g., bacterial pneumonia, meningitis and sepsis) and plants (e.g., bacterial wilt, angular spot and canker) lead to high prevalence and mortality, and decomposition of plant leaves, respectively. Melatonin, an endogenous molecule, is highly pleiotropic, and accumulating evidence supports the notion that melatonin’s actions in bacterial infection deserve particular attention. Here, we summarize the antibacterial effects of melatonin in vitro, in animals as well as plants, and discuss the potential mechanisms. Melatonin exerts antibacterial activities not only on classic gram-negative and -positive bacteria, but also on members of other bacterial groups, such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Protective actions against bacterial infections can occur at different levels. Direct actions of melatonin may occur only at very high concentrations, which is at the borderline of practical applicability. However, various indirect functions comprise activation of hosts’ defense mechanisms or, in sepsis, attenuation of bacterially induced inflammation. In plants, its antibacterial functions involve the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway; in animals, protection by melatonin against bacterially induced damage is associated with inhibition or activation of various signaling pathways, including key regulators such as NF-κB, STAT-1, Nrf2, NLRP3 inflammasome, MAPK and TLR-2/4. Moreover, melatonin can reduce formation of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS, RNS), promote detoxification and protect mitochondrial damage. Altogether, we propose that melatonin could be an effective approach against various pathogenic bacterial infections.

【 授权许可】

Unknown