Melatonin prevents the dysbiosis of intestinal microbiota in sleep-restricted mice by improving oxidative stress and inhibiting inflammation
Open accessAbstract
Background: Intestinal inflammation caused by sleep restriction (SR) threatens human health. However, radical cure of intestinal inflammatory conditions is considerably difficult. This study focuses on the effect of melatonin on SR-induced intestinal inflammation and microbiota imbalance in mice. Methods: We successfully established a water platform to induce long-term SR in mice for 28 days with or without melatonin supplementation. The SR-induced oxidative stress and inflammatory changes were evaluated in plasma and jejunum tissue samples using in vitro assays. Additionally, changes in the intestinal microbiota were explored using high-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. Results: After 20 h of chronic sleep restriction for 28 consecutive days, plasma melatonin was significantly reduced by 48.91% (P < 0.05), while GLU, NE, and CORT were significantly increased (34.32%-90.28%, P < 0.05). The activities of antioxidant enzymes (SOD, GSH-Px, and CAT) and T-AOC in intestinal tissues of SR mice were decreased (17.02%-40.92%, P < 0.05), while the content of MDA was increased (15.12%, P = 0.0089). The levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6 and TNF-α) ware increased (65.27%-123.26%, P < 0.05), while the levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-10 and IFN-γ) were decreased (26.53%-60.41%, P < 0.05). High-throughput pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA from jejunum samples demonstrated an overall increase in the number of OTUs (30.68%, P = 0.015). The α-diversity (Shannon, ACE and Chao1) of jejunum was increased (28.18%-48.95%, P < 0.05), and the β-diversity (PCoA and NMDS) was significantly different from that of the control group (P = 0.001). Furthermore, the prevalences of Helicobacter and Clostridium were higher, whereas that of Bacteroidetes and Lactobacillus were lower in SR mice than in controls (P < 0.05). However, melatonin supplementation reversed the SR-induced changes and improved oxidative stress, inflammatory response, and microbiota dysbiosis in the jejunum, and there was not significant difference compared with the control group (P > 0.05). Conclusions: Melatonin prevents the dysbiosis of intestinal microbiota in SR mice by improving oxidative stress and inhibiting inflammation. Our results may provide a theoretical basis for conducting clinical research on insufficient sleep leading to intestinal health in humans and hence facilitate a better understanding of the role of melatonin.
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Melatonin administration in animals helped reduce dysbiosis due to sleep restriction.
“Along these lines of research, melatonin administration in animals helped reduce dysbiosis due to sleep restriction [45,46].”
From Is Melatonin the “Next Vitamin D”?: A Review of Emerging Science, Clinical Uses, Safety, and Dietary Supplements (2022) · cites this paper as [45]
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МИКРОБИОТА КИШЕЧНИКА ПРИ НАРУШЕНИЯХ СНА В МЕНОПАУЗЕ
Евгеньевна, Г. Н., Евгеньевна, С. Н., Семёнова, Н. В., Belkova, N. L., Немченко, У. М., Станиславовна, К. Е., Евгеньевна, З. Р., Колесников, С. И., Михайловна, М. И., & Колесникова, Л. И. (2025) · Успехи геронтологии · doi:10.34922/ae.2025.38.4.013
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- Authors
- Wang, T., Wang, Z., Cao, J., Dong, Y., & Chen, Y.
- Affiliations
- China Agricultural University (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Chen, Yaoxing
- Venue
- Saudi Journal of Gastroenterology
- Published
- 2022-05
- Volume
- 28
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 209-217
- ISSN
- 1319-3767 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC9212112
- OpenAlex
- W4214945780
- Cited by
- 28
- References
- 33
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 3
- FWCI
- 1.63
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by-nc-sa
- Locations
- Saudi Journal of Gastroenterology (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Circadian rhythm and melatonin
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Gastroenterology › Gastrointestinal motility and disorders
- Keywords
- melatonin, sleep restriction, gut dysbiosis, oxidative stress, intestinal inflammation, inflammatory cytokines, antioxidant enzymes, lipid peroxidation, Helicobacter, Clostridium, Bacteroidetes, Lactobacillus, gut-brain axis, 16S rRNA gene sequencing, cytokine array, jejunum, corticosterone
- MeSH terms
- Gastrointestinal Microbiome, Animals, Humans, Inflammation, Intestinal Diseases, Melatonin, RNA, Ribosomal, 16S, Sleep Deprivation, Cytokines, Oxidative Stress, Mice, Dysbiosis
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