Researchers from the University of Granada (UGR) belonging to the Centro de Investigación Biomédica (Centre for Biomedical Research) have discovered that melatonin, a naturally occurring hormone also used as a medication, could be of use for preventing sepsis..
The results of their work have been published in the FASEB Journal.
This research has confirmed that NLRP3 inflammasome activation "is required and necessary" in the systemic inflammatory response and is extremely serious in sepsis. Additionally, the UGR researchers have discovered the molecular targets for melatonin that back its high efficacy as an anti-inflammatory, a property that is being assessed in clinical essays in laboratory.
The NLRP3 inflammasome is ultimately responsible for the maturation of pro-inflammatory cytokines (proteins regulating cell function) which, as in the case of pro-IL-18 and pro-IL-33, are induced in an inactive way by NF-kB, the classic path of innate immunity.
The study carried out by lead author José Antonio García Santos identified the link between the classic way of innate immunity (NF-kB) and the complementary one (NLRP3).
"With this research, we have confirmed the bases for chronic inflammation as an essential mechanism promoting the link between NF-kB/NLRP3 and systemic inflammation in sepsis. The disruption of this link, caused by melatonin, inhibits all innate immune ways activated in sepsis, which lets the body to recover from the septic shock and multiple organ failure, and significantly increases survival," professor García Santos says.
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