REVIEW article
Front. Physiol.
Sec. Skeletal Physiology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphys.2025.1529315
Progress of melatonin in the treatment of intervertebral disc degeneration
Provisionally accepted
- 1Luoyang Orthopedic Traumatological Hospital, Luoyang, Henan Province, China
- 2Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China
- 3Second Affiliated Hospital of Luohe Medical College, Luohe, China
- 4Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, Anhui Province, China
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The most common degenerative condition affecting the musculoskeletal system, and the leading cause of persistent low back pain, is intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD). IDD is increasingly common with age and has a variety of etiologic factors including inflammation, oxidative stress, extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation, and apoptosis that interact with each other to cause IDD.Because it is difficult to determine the exact pathogenesis of IDD, there is a lack of effective therapeutic agents. Melatonin has been intensively studied for its strong anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-apoptotic properties. melatonin is a pleiotropic indole-stimulating hormone produced by the pineal gland, which can be used to treat a wide range of degenerative diseases. Therefore, melatonin supplementation may be a viable treatment for IDD. This article reviews the current mechanisms of IDD and the multiple roles regarding melatonin's anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-apoptotic, and mitigating ECM degradation in IDD, incorporating new current research perspectives, as well as recent studies on drug delivery systems.
Keywords: Intervertebral Disc Degeneration, Melatonin, Oxidative Stress, Low Back Pain, Inflammation, Cell death -
Received: 08 Feb 2025; Accepted: 23 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yin, Wan, Zhang, Yang, Liu, Zhao and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Mingyu Zhao, Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, 450008, Henan Province, China
Jitian Li, Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, 450008, Henan Province, China
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