@article{a6d2f6fdb61944f4bea842a8ceed0606,
title = "Melatonin for the treatment of spinal cord injury",
abstract = "Spinal cord injury (SCI) from trauma or disease severely impairs sensory and motor function. Neurorehabilitation after SCI is a complex medical process that focuses on improving neurologic function and repairing damaged connections in the central nervous system. An increasing number of preclinical studies suggest that melatonin may be useful for the treatment of SCI. Melatonin is an indolamine that is primarily secreted by the pineal gland and known to be regulated by photoperiodicity. However, it is also a versatile hormone with antioxidative, antiapoptotic, neuroprotective, and anti-inflammatory properties. Here, we review the neuroprotective properties of melatonin and the potential mechanisms by which it might be beneficial in the treatment of SCI. We also describe therapies that combine melatonin with exercise, oxytetracycline, and dexamethasone to attenuate the secondary injury after SCI and limit potential side effects. Finally, we discuss how injury at different spinal levels may differentially affect the secretion of melatonin.",
keywords = "Anti-inflammatory, Antiapoptotic, Antioxidative, Melatonin, Neural regeneration, Neuroprotection, Secondary damage, Spinal cord injury, Synergistic effects",
author = "Yan Zhang and Zhang, {Wen Xiu} and Zhang, {Yan Jun} and Liu, {Ya Dong} and Liu, {Zong Jian} and Wu, {Qi Chao} and Yun Guan and Chen, {Xue Ming}",
note = "Funding Information: Funding: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 81671161 (to ZJL). Funding Information: Acknowledgments: The authors thank Claire F. Levine, MS (scientific editor, Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins University) for editing the manuscript. Author contributions: YG and XMC had conceived and revised the article. YZ was responsible for writing it. Collecting the literature was executed by WXZ, YJZ, YDL, ZJL and QCW. Conflicts of interest: The authors declare no conflicts of interest. Financial support: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81671161; to ZJL). The funding body played no role in this work other than to provide funding. Copyright license agreement: The Copyright License Agreement has been signed by all authors before publication. Plagiarism check: Checked twice by iThenticate. Peer review: Externally peer reviewed. Open access statement: This is an open access journal, and articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as appropriate credit is given and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms. Open peer reviewer: Stephanie K Seidlits, University of California Los Angeles, USA. Additional files: Additional Table 1: Characteristics of the major studies. Additional file 1: Open peer reviewer report 1. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2018 Medknow Publications. All rights reserved.",
year = "2018",
month = oct,
doi = "10.4103/1673-5374.238603",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "13",
pages = "1685--1692",
journal = "Neural Regeneration Research",
issn = "1673-5374",
publisher = "Editorial Board of Neural Regeneration Research",
number = "10",
}