Protective effects of melatonin on changes occurring in the experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis model of multiple sclerosis.

BACKGROUND: Melatonin has been related to the pathophysiology of multiple sclerosis (MS), and its anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory properties have been proved in numerous neurodegenerative diseases. This study aimed to find out whether a melatonin supplement in MS is able to act as a benefit to its clinical status, i.e. oxidative stress, inflammation and indirect biomarkers of bacterial dysbiosis, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and LPS-binding protein (LBP), verifying its therapeutic potential and its possible clinical use in patients with MS. METHODS: The animal MS model, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), was employed whereby 25 male Dark Agouti rats (5 animals per group) were divided into: a control group (not manipulated); a control+vehicle group; a control+melatonin group; an EAE group; an EAE+melatonin group. Melatonin was administered daily for 51 days, at a dose of 1 mg/kg body weight/i.p., once a day, five days a week. RESULTS: The results from the administration of melatonin demonstrated an improvement in clinical status, a diminution in oxidative stress and inflammation, as well as in bacterial dysbiosis. CONCLUSION: Melatonin could play an effective role against MS, either alone or as a therapy combined with traditional agents.

Interrelationships Among Gut Microbiota and Host: Paradigms, Role in Neurodegenerative Diseases and Future Prospects.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Advances in the knowledge of the microbiota and concepts related to it have triggered a wake-up call in biomedicine. The development in various scientific areas has enabled a better and broader approach to everything concerning the set of families of microorganisms that coexist with an individual and are able to function as one or more organs in its body. Among the aforementioned scientific areas, those worth mentioning are the advances/progress in biotechnological resources and, in particular, molecular biology and related areas. This has given rise to the era of "omics", marking a turning point in the understanding of numerous physiologic and pathophysiologic processes of the organism. The current theory is that the microbiota and the host maintain an intimate relationship that is of a markedly bilateral nature. This continuous feedback has different connotations between one individual and another, but also within the same individual throughout its life span, which is determined by its own conditioning factors (such as its genetic profile), and environmental ones (mainly diet and lifestyles). Both elements (microbiota and host) coexist harmoniously, maintaining a balance, which can be altered and give rise to different morbid entities. Among these is its relation to chronic processes, and especially those of an autoimmune origin. Such may be neurological diseases situations and, specifically, those of a neurodegenerative nature. In disorders such as multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Huntington's chorea and Alzheimer's disease, among others, it has been found that a disharmonic coexistence between microbiota and host may have implications in their etiology and pathogenesis. A better understanding of those implications has led to the development of actions on the gut microbiota as a target to slow down the advancement or establishment of neurodegeneration. CONCLUSION: In this scenario, several treatment strategies have emerged, such as probiotic food intake and stool transplantation. Their real potentialities remain to be elucidated, although current scientific evidence infers that the development of those therapeutic approaches could offer a ray of hope in the prospects of tackling neurodegenerative diseases.