Structural basis of the anti-inflammatory activity of melatonin.

The anti-inflammatory activity of melatonin (CAS 73-31-4) was examined, using the rat paw edema model, and compared with the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) indometacin (CAS 53-86-1) which exerts its effects by inhibition of prostaglandin production on acute inflammation. The experiments showed that melatonin has an important effect on acute inflammatory processes acting as an inhibitor in a similar manner to indometacin. The structural interactions of melatonin with cyclooxygenase (COX), the pharmacological target of NSAIDs, were investigated using computer graphics applications. The results indicated that melatonin has an excellent steric and electronic complementarity with COX. It was found, similarly to previously studied crystal structures of protein-inhibitor complexes, that almost all interactions were of the hydrophobic type but for the typical carboxylate or electronegative group interaction, at the mouth of the active site channel, with Arg 120 and Tyr 355. Therefore, it seems possible that melatonin might bind to the active site of COX-1 and COX-2 suggesting that it may act as a natural inhibitor of the functions of cyclooxygenase modulating in a natural manner the activity of this enzyme.