What is Melatonin?

Melatonin is a hormone, known chemically as N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine. It is a naturally occurring compound found in animals, plants, and microbes.

In humans melatonin is produced by the pineal gland (located in the centre of the brain but outside the blood-brain barrier).

In animals, circulating levels of melatonin vary in a daily cycle, thereby regulating the circadian rhythms of several biological functions. Many biological effects of melatonin are produced through activation of melatonin receptors, while others are due to its role as a pervasive and powerful antioxidant, with a particular role in the protection of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA.

What Does Melatonin do?

Circadian rhythm

The melatonin signal forms part of the system that regulates the sleep-wake cycle by chemically causing drowsiness and lowering the body temperature, but it is the central nervous system (more specifically, the suprachiasmatic nuclei, SCN) that controls the daily cycle in most components of the paracrine and endocrine systems rather than the melatonin signal (as was once postulated).

Melatonin taken in the evening is, together with light therapy upon awakening, the standard treatment for delayed sleep phase syndrome and non-24-hour sleep-wake syndrome. It appears to have some use against other circadian rhythm sleep disorders as well, such as jet lag and the problems of people who work rotating or night shifts.

Antioxidant

In many lower life forms, the only purpose of melatonin is as an anti-oxidant. Melatonin is an antioxidant that can easily cross cell membranes and the blood-brain barrier. Melatonin is a direct scavenger of OH, O2-, and NO.

Unlike other antioxidants, melatonin does not undergo redox cycling, the ability of a molecule to undergo reduction and oxidation repeatedly. Redox cycling may allow other antioxidants (such as vitamin C) to regain their antioxidant properties. Melatonin, on the other hand, once oxidized, cannot be reduced to its former state because it forms several stable end-products upon reacting with free radicals. Therefore, it has been referred to as a terminal (or suicidal) antioxidant.

In animal models, melatonin has been demonstrated to prevent the damage to DNA by some carcinogens, stopping the mechanism by which they cause cancer.

Melatonin's antioxidant activity may reduce damage caused by some types of Parkinson's disease, may play a role in preventing cardiac arrhythmia and may increase longevity; it has been shown to increase the average life span of mice by 20% in some studies.

Immune System

While it is known that melatonin interacts with the immune system, the details of those interactions are unclear. In preclinical studies, melatonin may enhance cytokine production, and by doing this counteract acquired immunodeficiency. Some studies also suggest that melatonin might be useful fighting infectious disease including viral, such as HIV, and bacterial infections, and potentially in the treatment of cancer. These studies are as yet inconclusive.

Autism

Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) may have lower than normal levels of melatonin. A 2008 study found that unaffected parents of individuals with ASD also have lower melatonin levels, and that the deficits were associated with low activity of the ASMT gene, which encodes the last enzyme of melatonin synthesis.

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

Research shows that melatonin administered to ADHD patients on methylphenidate, significantly reduces the time needed to fall asleep. In addition to this the effects of melatonin remain undiminished three months into the treatment maintaining efficacy, as one week into the treatment.

What is the best way to take Melatonin?

The best way to supplement ones diet with melatonin is the use liposomal complex (phospholipids). Studies in humans show that the absorption of phospholipids is higher than 90%. The manufacturers of ReadiSorb Melatonin Spray place melatonin in tiny nano size spheres called liposomes, which are absorbed readily into the body.

Liposomes are small spheres (100-500 nanometer size), or liquid bubbles, made from Essential Phospholipids (EPL). EPL are natural components of human and animal cell membranes. A continuous supply of EPL, or its constituents, is essential for cell maintenance.