Can melatonin delay aging?

The consumption of melatonin, a substance produced in the brain by the pineal gland and present in many foods, including red wine, slows the effects of aging, a new study indicates. Melatonin exists in small quantities in fruits and vegetables such as onions, cherries, and bananas, in cereals such as corn, oats, and rice, in aromatic plants such as mint, verbena, sage, and thyme, and in red wine.

The study was conducted by a team of Spanish researchers led by Darío Acuña Castroviejo, director of the National Network of Research on Aging at the University of Granada. The study, based on the analysis of normal and genetically modified mice, concluded that “the first signs of aging in animal tissues begin at five months (in mice) — equivalent to 30 years in humans — due to an increase in free radicals (oxygen and nitrogen), which cause an inflammatory reaction,” according to the researcher. This “oxidative stress,” he added, has effects on animal blood, as it has been proven that “blood cells become more fragile with age and their membranes more vulnerable to rupture.”

Neutralizing oxidative stress By administering small amounts of melatonin to mice, researchers observed not only that this substance neutralized oxidative stress and the inflammatory process caused by aging, but also that it slowed its effects, thereby increasing longevity. The study's objective was to analyze mitochondrial function in mice and verify their mitochondrial capacity to produce ATP (adenosine triphosphate), a molecule whose mission is to store the energy each cell needs to perform its functions. The research concluded that the chronic administration of melatonin in animals from the moment they stop producing this substance (at five months in mice) helps counteract the entire aging process. Similarly, the daily consumption of melatonin by humans from the age of 30 or 40 could prevent — or at least delay — diseases related to aging, free radicals, and inflammatory processes. Melatonin, known as “the sleep hormone,” regulates circadian cycles (sleep-wake), with its production stimulated by darkness and inhibited by light. The study's conclusions were published in several international medical journals, namely Free Radical Research, Experimental Gerontology, Journal of Pineal Research, and Frontiers in Bioscience.

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