The Preventive Effect of Melatonin on Radiation-Induced Oral Mucositis

Reiko Tokuyama-Toda; Hirochika Umeki; Mitsuru Okubo; Chika Terada-Ito; Toshio Yudo; Shinji Ide; Susumu Tadokoro; Masashi Shimozuma; Kazuhito Satomura

doi:10.3390/cells12172178

The Preventive Effect of Melatonin on Radiation-Induced Oral Mucositis

Cells. 2023 Aug 30;12(17):2178. doi: 10.3390/cells12172178.

Authors

Reiko Tokuyama-Toda¹, Hirochika Umeki¹, Mitsuru Okubo¹, Chika Terada-Ito¹, Toshio Yudo¹, Shinji Ide¹, Susumu Tadokoro¹, Masashi Shimozuma¹, Kazuhito Satomura¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Oral Medicine and Stomatology, School of Dental Medicine, Tsurumi University, 2-1-3, Tsurumi, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama City 230-8501, Japan.

Abstract

Melatonin exerts various physiological effects through melatonin receptors and their ability to scavenge free radicals. Radiotherapy is a common treatment for head and neck tumors, but stomatitis, a side effect affecting irradiated oral mucosa, can impact treatment outcomes. This study investigated the preventive effect of melatonin, a potent free radical scavenger, on radiation-induced oral mucositis. Mice were irradiated with 15 Gy of X-ray radiation to the head and neck, and the oral mucosa was histologically compared between a melatonin-administered group and a control group. The results showed that radiation-induced oral mucositis was suppressed in mice administered melatonin before and after irradiation. It was suggested that the mechanism involved the inhibition of apoptosis and the inhibition of DNA damage. From these findings, we confirmed that melatonin has a protective effect against radiation-induced oral mucositis.

Keywords: free radical scavenger; melatonin; oral mucosa; radiation-induced oral mucositis.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Apoptosis
Head
Melatonin* / pharmacology
Melatonin* / therapeutic use
Mice
Mouth Mucosa
Stomatitis* / drug therapy
Stomatitis* / etiology
Stomatitis* / prevention & control

Substances

Melatonin

Grants and funding

This research was funded by JSPS KAKENHI (grant numbers 23K09384 (Reiko Tokuyama-Toda), 22K10206 (Susumu Tadokoro), 15K11279 (Reiko Tokuyama-Toda), 26463029 (Masashi Shimozuma) and 21K19617 (Kazuhito Satomura)).