Delirium is an acute-onset syndrome that exacerbates patients' condition and significantly increases consequential morbidity and mortality. There is no comprehensive, cellular and tissue-level, pathophysiological theory. The melatonin hormone imbalance has been shown to be linked to circadian rhythms, sleep-wake cycle disturbances, and delirium incidence. There has been relatively little research about melatonin in delirium, and there has been no such study done in the group of elderly patients of a general medicine ward yet. The aim of our study was to compare melatonin hormone concentration in relation to the presence of delirium in elderly patients hospitalized in the general medicine ward. Blood samples were collected four times a day for two days (at 12:00, 18:00, 00:00 and 6:00), on the day when delirium was diagnosed and 72 h after the delirium resolution. Delirium was diagnosed with the Confusion Assessment Method and the criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Revision. The mean age of 30 patients (73.3% women) was 86.5 ± 5.2 years. Delirium was diagnosed most often on the second and third day of hospitalization. A lot of predisposing and precipitating factors for delirium were identified. There was a significant difference in the melatonin hormone concentration measurement at 12:00 when patients had acute delirium and after its resolution [18.5 (13.8, 27.5) vs 12.9 (9.8, 17.8), p<0.01]. Different patterns of the melatonin hormone concentration were shown in analyses in the subgroups defined according to the patients' diagnosis of dementia. We found that the delirium recovery was, in fact, associated with the alteration of the daily profile of melatonin.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.exger.2015.09.007 | DOI Listing |
JCEM Case Rep
February 2025
Clinica Medica 3, Department of Medicine-DIMED, University Hospital of Padova, Padova 35128, Italy.
Growth hormone (GH) secretion by the pituitary is regulated by stimulatory and inhibitory pathways such as growth hormone releasing hormone (GHRH) and somatostatin, respectively, being also modulated by different neurotransmitters acting at the hypothalamic/pituitary level. The pineal gland hormone melatonin regulates GH secretion in many mammals, including humans, although its role in modulating GH secretion has been debated. We describe the case of a young woman chronically taking melatonin for sleep disturbances, referring to her general practitioner for flushing that appeared just after starting melatonin intake.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Pineal Res
March 2025
College of Enology, Shaanxi Provincial Key Laboratory of Viti-Viniculture, Shaanxi Engineering Research Center of Characteristic Fruit Directional Design and Machining, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China.
Melatonin is involved in biological adverse stress response and enhances the ability of yeast to adapt to adverse conditions. This study investigated the mechanism of exogenous melatonin addition to Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S. cerevisiae) under copper stress.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPLoS One
January 2025
Center for Computation and Integrative Biology, Rutgers, The State of New Jersey, Camden, NJ, United States of America.
Melatonin, a molecule with diverse biological functions, is ubiquitously present in living organisms. There is significant interest in understanding melatonin signal transduction pathways in humans, particularly due to its critical role in regulating the sleep-wake cycle. However, a knowledge gap remains in fully elucidating the mechanisms by which melatonin influences circadian regulation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPLoS One
January 2025
Laboratory of Developmental Biology, Department of Morphology and Genetics-Paulista Medicine School, Federal University of Sao Paulo (UNIFESP), Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Melatonin is a pineal hormone synthesized exclusively at night, in several organisms. Its action on sperm is of particular interest, since they transfer genetic and epigenetic information to the offspring, including microRNAs, configuring a mechanism of paternal epigenetic inheritance. MicroRNAs are known to participate in a wide variety of mechanisms in basically all cells and tissues, including the brain and the sperm cells, which are known, respectively, to present 70% of all identified microRNAs and to transfer these molecules to the embryo.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPlant Cell Rep
January 2025
Department of Biophysics, Molecular Biology and Bioinformatics, University of Calcutta, 92, APC Road, Kolkata, 700 009, India.
Melatonin increases Pb tolerance in P. ovata seedlings via the regulation of growth and stress-related phytohormones, ROS scavenging and genes responsible for melatonin synthesis, metal chelation, and stress defense. Lead (Pb) is a highly toxic heavy metal that accumulates in plants through soil and air contamination and impairs its plant growth and development.
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