Melatonin and sciatic nerve injury repair: a current perspective

Peripheral nerve injury is an important clinical problem that can exert hazardous effects on the health of patients. For this reason, there are more studies conducted on the regeneration of the peripheral nerves via the usage of the nerves belonging to various animals with different types of lesions, ages, and by using different methods of assessment with regular follow-up. Contrary to data obtained through experimentation and clinical observation, no ideal way of treatment was found to increase the regeneration of the peripheral nerves. Finally, the effects of melatonin in the protection of peripheral nerves against trauma, especially the protection of sciatic nerve from pathological conditions, have come into attention in a wide group of scientists as there are beneficial effects of melatonin after surgery. While numerous studies indicate the melatonin’s protective effects on the pathologies of nerves, there are also studies reporting its toxic effects on peripheral nerves. Melatonin is a widespread and crucial signaling molecule due to its features of free radical scavenging and anti-oxidation at both pharmacological and physiological conditions in vivo. In this context, although there are numerous studies elaborating the effects of melatonin in various tissues, its effects on peripheral nerves was documented in only a limited number of studies. The aim of this article was to perform a review of the knowledge in the literature on the subject of mostly beneficial or hazardous effects of melatonin on the repair of the damaged peripheral nerves.