The Role of Melatonin on NLRP3 Inflammasome Activation in Diseases

Abstract

NLRP3 inflammasome is a part of the innate immune system and responsible for the rapid identification and eradication of pathogenic microbes, metabolic stress products, reactive oxygen species, and other exogenous agents. NLRP3 inflammasome is overactivated in several neurodegenerative, cardiac, pulmonary, and metabolic diseases. Therefore, suppression of inflammasome activation is of utmost clinical importance. Melatonin is a ubiquitous hormone mainly produced in the pineal gland with circadian rhythm regulatory, antioxidant, and immunomodulatory functions. Melatonin is a natural product and safer than most chemicals to use for medicinal purposes. Many in vitro and in vivo studies have proved that melatonin alleviates NLRP3 inflammasome activity via various intracellular signaling pathways. In this review, the effect of melatonin on the NLRP3 inflammasome in the context of diseases will be discussed.

Keywords: NLRP3 inflammasome; disease; melatonin.

Figure 1

Representation of melatonin effects on NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Melatonin shows ameliorative effects on NLRP3 inflammasome activation via interacting with certain signaling pathways. NLRP3: NLR family pyrin domain containing 3; ASC: apoptotic-associated speck-like protein containing a caspase recruitment domain; ROS: reactive oxygen species; TXNIP: thioredoxin-interacting protein; Nrf2: nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2; Sirt-1: sirtuin 1, IL-1β: interleukin 1β; NF-κB: nuclear factor kappa B.