The effects of melatonin supplementation on the development of obesity in mice

Abstract

Obesity is a chronic disease defined as the excessive accumulation of body lipids in adipose tissue and ectopically in other tissues such as the liver, pancreas and skeletal muscle, and it can be associated with other comorbidities such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, myocardial infarction, hypertension, and some cancers. The incidence of obesity worldwide is increasing every year, and this is an indication that the therapeutic strategies used to date are not yet fully effective. Studies have shown that melatonin is a hormone responsible for ensuring an adequate energy balance, mainly through the regulation of energy flow, probably through the activation of brown adipose tissue metabolism. In addition, studies show that melatonin has the capacity to promote the "browning" of white adipose tissue, thereby assisting in the regulation of body weight. However, studies evaluating the action of melatonin on brown adipose tissue metabolism are still incipient. Thus, this study aims to investigate how melatonin supplementation interferes with the physiology of white and brown adipose tissues on rats fed high fat diet. (AU)