Wound healing and the effect of pineal gland and melatonin

Wound healing is a complex phenomenon that is controlled by local and general regulatory mechanisms. The aim of the paper is to analyze recently-published data devoted to the regulation of wound repair by melatonin. The effect of melatonin has been reported in different wound types healed with various mechanisms. The action of the pineal indoleamine is dependent on the used dose, time of application and target organ. Moreover, melatonin influences different phases of wound repair such as inflammation, by regulating the release of inflammatory mediators, cell proliferation and migration, by influencing angiogenesis, and the proliferation of fibroblasts, as well as the synthesis phase, by regulating collagen and glycosaminoglycan accumulation in the wounded milieu. Thus, healing of the skin wound, myocardial infarction, bone fractures and gastric ulcer is influenced by melatonin. In patients with low levels of melatonin (elderly or β-blocker treated patients), its regulatory effects are expected to be impaired. Thus, the need for melatonin supplementation in those patients is postulated in the study.