Maternal pineal melatonin in gestation and lactation physiology, and in fetal development and programming

Oct 8, 2020General and comparative endocrinology

Mother’s Melatonin During Pregnancy and Breastfeeding and Its Role in Fetal Growth and Long-Term Development

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Abstract

Maternal pineal melatonin blood levels increase during pregnancy, significantly influencing maternal physiological adaptations.

Melatonin regulates the reproductive system by influencing the synthesis and release of gonadotropins and sexual hormones.
The hormone's antioxidant properties are vital for the quality and viability of oocytes and spermatozoa, as well as for blastocyst development.
Melatonin plays a crucial role in adjusting maternal energy metabolism during pregnancy and lactation to meet increased energy demands.
This hormone crosses the placenta, serving as the fetus's only source of melatonin and influencing its physiological development.
Maternal melatonin exposure may affect neural and brain development in the fetus, potentially programming adult behavior and metabolism.
Alterations in progeny development could be linked to maternal chronodisruption and low melatonin levels.

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Pregnancy and lactation are reproductive processes that rely on physiological adaptations that should be timely and adequately triggered to guarantee both maternal and fetal health. Pineal melatonin is a hormone that presents daily and seasonal variations that synchronizes the organism's physiology to the different demands across time through its specific mechanisms and ways of action. The reproductive system is a notable target for melatonin as it actively participates on reproductive physiology and regulates the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonads axis, influencing gonadotropins and sexual hormones synthesis and release. For its antioxidant properties, melatonin is also vital for the oocytes and spermatozoa quality and viability, and for blastocyst development. Maternal pineal melatonin blood levels increase during pregnancy and triggers the maternal physiological alterations in energy metabolism both during pregnancy and lactation to cope with the energy demands of both periods and to promote adequate mammary gland development. Moreover, maternal melatonin freely crosses the placenta and is the only source of this hormone to the fetus. It importantly times the conceptus physiology and influences its development and programing of several functions that depend on neural and brain development, ultimately priming adult behavior and energy and glucose metabolism. The present review aims to explain the above listed melatonin functions, including the potential alterations observed in the progeny gestated under maternal chronodisruption and/or hypomelatoninemia.

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Maternal pineal melatonin in gestation and lactation physiology, and in fetal development and programming

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