What is melatonin?

In general, women are more concerned about the color of their skin. Every woman hopes to have fair skin. The skin care products they use every day are mostly whitening products. Melatonin is one of the more popular ones nowadays, but what is melatonin? There are also many people who don’t understand this. Melatonin is actually a hormone, a biologically active substance that can delay the aging of the skin.

1. Sources of melatonin:

A hormone substance that can lighten the skin pigmentation. This hormone is synthesized in the pineal gland using tryptophan as a matrix and its chemical name is N-acetyl, 5-methoxytryptamine.

Melatonin is the first biologically active substance discovered in the pineal gland. When mammals are in the dark, melatonin secretion activity is immediately enhanced; when they are switched to a bright environment, the secretion stops. The rhythm of melatonin secretion can be measured in urine as light changes. Other factors such as sleep, diet, mental state and stress also have a certain impact. Injection of melatonin into the hypothalamus can inhibit the secretion of gonadotropin, but it has also been observed that melatonin can act directly on the pituitary gland. Therefore, melatonin can inhibit the secretion of gonadotropin through the hypothalamus and/or pituitary gland. In addition, melatonin receptors have been found in the ovaries, indicating that this is also the site of action of melatonin.

2. The main uses of melatonin:

1. Delays Aging:

Free radicals may be produced during enzymatic and non-enzymatic reactions in the body, and free radicals are closely related to aging. The production and elimination of free radicals in a normal body are in a dynamic balance. Once this balance is broken, free radicals will cause damage to biological macromolecules such as lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids, leading to destruction of cell structure and aging of the body. Melatonin protects cell structure, prevents DNA damage and reduces the level of peroxides in the body by scavenging free radicals, anti-oxidation and inhibiting lipid peroxidation. Research by some scholars has found that melatonin can protect DNA from damage caused by safrole (a carcinogen that damages DNA by releasing free radicals) by up to 99%, and the effect is dose-response relationship. Melatonin has a significant antagonistic effect on peroxidation caused by exogenous toxins (such as paraquat) and tissue damage caused by the free radicals produced. Melatonin can also reduce the content of LPO in the brain. Its effects on different areas of the brain, such as the cerebral cortex, cerebellum, hippocampus, hypothalamus, striatum, etc., are basically the same and are dose-dependent. However, different strains of rats, such as Sprague-Dawlay and Wistar rats, have different sensitivities to melatonin.

1. Improves Sleep:

It can shorten the time of awakening before bedtime and the time of falling asleep, improve sleep quality, significantly reduce the number of awakenings during sleep, shorten the light sleep stage, prolong the deep sleep stage, and lower the awakening threshold the next morning. It has a strong function of adjusting time difference. It is mainly used in whitening and moisturizing cosmetics, and is also commonly used in hair growth products. The biological functions of melatonin, especially its health functions as a dietary supplement, have been extensively studied at home and abroad, showing that it has many physiological functions such as promoting sleep, adjusting jet lag, anti-aging, regulating immunity, and anti-tumor. The health functions of melatonin reported at home and abroad include regulating endocrine (inhibiting ovulation), protecting against encephalitis virus infection and reducing mortality after infection, treating AIDS and protecting cardiovascular system, etc.