Melatonin in regulation of inflammatory pathways in rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis: involvement of circadian clock genes

Jahanban-Esfahlan R, Mehrzadi S, Reiter RJ, Seidi K, Majidinia M, Baghi HB, Khatami N, Yousefi B, Sadeghpour A · Br J Pharmacol

For osteoarthritis the evidence it assembles is preclinical: melatonin protected a human chondrocyte line from hydrogen-peroxide injury and reduced cartilage destruction after intra-articular injection in a rabbit model, with both effects abolished by SIRT1 inhibition or knockdown (Lim 2012); in human knee cartilage from osteoarthritis, BMAL1 and NAD+ were both reduced, BMAL1 knockdown lowered NAD+ and worsened IL-1-beta-driven gene changes, and BMAL1 or SIRT1 overexpression reversed them (Yang 2016). For rheumatoid arthritis it records melatonin acting both ways, with high melatonin associated with worse prognosis in some reports. Concludes that SIRT1 activation is central to what melatonin and BMAL1 do in cartilage and that more studies are required.

Population

Narrative review of melatonin and circadian clock genes in the inflammatory pathways of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis

Intervention

n/a

Comparator

n/a

Limitations

Narrative review from Tabriz University groups with a University of Texas co-author; the archived text is a PDF render with no funding or conflict statement recoverable from it. It describes melatonin's osteoarthritis potential as established in clinical settings while citing no clinical osteoarthritis trial.