Search

Periodontitis as a highly prevalent chronic infection/inflammatory disease can eventually lead to tooth loss and masticatory dysfunction. It also has a negative impact on general health and largely impairs quality of life. The tissue destruction during periodontitis is mainly caused by the excessive immune-inflammatory response; hence, how to modulate the host's reaction is of profound importance for effective periodontal treatment and tissue protection. Melatonin, as an endogenous hormone exhibiting multiple biological functions such as circadian rhythm regulation, antioxidant, and anti-inflammation, has been widely used in general healthcare. Notably, the past few years have witnessed increasing evidence for the application of melatonin as an adjunctive approach in the treatment of periodontitis and periodontitis-related systemic comorbidities. The detailed underlying mechanisms and more verification from clinical practice are still lacking, however, and further investigations are highly required. Importantly, it is essential to establish standard guidelines in the near future for the clinical administration of melatonin for periodontal health and general wellbeing.

Cancer represents a large group of diseases accounting for nearly 10 million deaths each year. Various treatment strategies, including surgical resection combined with chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and immunotherapy, have been applied for cancer treatment. However, the outcomes remain largely unsatisfying. Melatonin, as an endogenous hormone, is associated with the circadian rhythm moderation. Many physiological functions of melatonin besides sleep-wake cycle control have been identified, such as antioxidant, immunomodulation, and anti-inflammation. In recent years, an increasing number of studies have described the anticancer effects of melatonin. This has drawn our attention to the potential usage of melatonin for cancer treatment in the clinical setting, although huge obstacles still exist before its wide clinical administration is accepted. The exact mechanisms behind its anticancer effects remain unclear, and the specific characters impede its in vivo investigation. In this review, we will summarize the latest advances in melatonin studies, including its chemical properties, the possible mechanisms for its anticancer effects, and the ongoing clinical trials. Importantly, challenges for the clinical application of melatonin will be discussed, accompanied with our perspectives on its future development. Finally, obstacles and perspectives of using melatonin for cancer treatment will be proposed. The present article will provide a comprehensive foundation for applying melatonin as a preventive and therapeutic agent for cancer treatment.

Oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCCs) are one of the most prevalent malignancies, with a low five-year survival rate, thus warranting more effective drugs or therapy to improve treatment outcomes. Melatonin has been demonstrated to exhibit oncostatic effects. In this study, we explored the anti-cancer effects of melatonin on OSCCs and the underlying mechanisms. A human tongue squamous cell carcinoma cell line (SCC-15) was treated with 2 mM melatonin, followed by transwell migration and invasion assays. Relative expression levels of Fibroblast Growth Factor 19 (FGF19) was identified by Cytokine Array and further verified by qPCR and Western blot. Overexpression and downregulation of FGF19 were obtained by adding exogenous hFGF19 and FGF19 shRNA lentivirus, respectively. Invasion and migration abilities of SCC-15 cells were suppressed by melatonin, in parallel with the decreased FGF19/FGFR4 expression level. Exogenous hFGF19 eliminated the inhibitory effects of melatonin on SCC-15 cells invasion and migration, while FGF19 knocking-down showed similar inhibitory activities with melatonin. This study proves that melatonin suppresses SCC-15 cells invasion and migration through blocking the FGF19/FGFR4 pathway, which enriches our knowledge on the anticancer effects of melatonin. Blocking the FGF19/FGFR4 pathway by melatonin could be a promising alternative for OSCCs prevention and management, which would facilitate further development of novel strategies to combat OSCCs.