Melatonin Improves Mitochondrial Function by Promoting

Melatonin is an indolamine synthesized in the pineal gland that has a wide range of physiological functions, and it has been un-der clinical investigation for expanded applications. Increasing evidence demonstrates that melatonin can ameliorate cadmium-induced hepatotoxicity. However, the potentially protective effects of melatonin against cadmium-induced hepatotoxicity and the underlying mechanisms of this protection remain unclear. This study investigates the protective effects of melatonin pretreatment on cadmium-induced hepatotoxicity and elucidates the potential mechanism of melatonin-mediated protection. We exposed HepG2 cells to different concentrations of cadmium chloride (2.5, 5, and 10M) for 12 h. We found that Cd stimulated cytotoxicity, dis-rupted the mitochondrial membrane potential, increased reactive oxygen species production, and decreased mitochondrial mass and mitochondrial DNA content. Consistent with this finding, Cd ex