Melatonin protects against membrane alterations affected by ‘Artificial Light at Night’ in a circadian-disrupted model of rat

ABSTRACT

Artificial Light at Night (ALAN) causes alteration in the redox status and membrane-bound transporters. Melatonin has pleiotropic effects on normal physiology and acts as a potential antioxidant. This study was undertaken to evaluate the effects of ALAN-induced alterations in the membrane transporters, oxidative stress biomarkers and to evaluate the protective effects of melatonin supplementation prior to exposure of light in a circadian-disrupted model of rat. Young male Wistar rats 250 ± 20 g were randomly segregated into following groups; Group (I) control, Group (II) melatonin-treated group (10 mg/kg, orally), Group (III) ALAN (500 lux), Group (IV) ALAN with melatonin, for 10 days. Results show that melatonin is an effective mediator of membrane-bound transporters revealed by activation of Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase (NKA), plasma membrane Ca²⁺-ATPase (PMCA) and suppression of Na⁺/H⁺ exchanger (NHE) activity. Oxidative stress biomarkers such as total thiol (T-SH), sialic acid (SA), lipid hydroperoxides (LHs) and protein carbonylation (PC) are also restored to the normal level after supplementation of melatonin. These findings demonstrate the protective effect of melatonin on membrane-bound enzymes along with other oxidative stress biomarkers against light-mediated oxidative damage in erythrocyte membrane.

KEYWORDS:

• Artificial Light
• biological rhythm
• melatonin
• membrane transporters
• oxidative stress

Disclosure Statement

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

AKV gratefully acknowledges Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi, India, for providing a fellowship in the form of a research fellowship.