Melatonin reduces inflammation and cell death in white matter in the mid-gestation fetal sheep following umbilical cord occlusion.

The premature infant is at increased risk of cerebral white matter injury. Melatonin is neuroprotective in adult models of focal cerebral ischemia and attenuates ibotenate-induced white matter cysts in neonatal mice. Clinically, melatonin has been used to treat sleep disorders in children without major side effects.