Melatonin is a neurohormone; its major physiological function is to regulate circadian rhythm and sleep. The research team of Dr. Eminy H.Y. Lee from the Institute of Biomedical Sciences has recently found that melatonin could increase brain expression level of neprilysin and transthyretin, two major amyloid-beta-degrading enzymes, facilitate the degradation of amyloid-beta and reduce amyloid-beta oligomerization. As a result, melatonin decreases the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and rescues memory deficits in APP/PS1 mice, a mouse model of AD. The rescuing effect of melatonin is still very significant even in middle-staged APP/PS1 mice. These results were published in the “Molecular Therapy” Journal in September of this year (2020). These results shed light on the important role of melatonin as a potential therapeutic agent to combat AD.

Article Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1525001620304603