Effect of melatonin on lymphocyte in HIV patients

Introduction Since melatonin(N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine) was first isolated in 1958.Lot of studies suggest melatonin shows lymphoproliferative action via MT2 (mainly) and MT1 receptor. In recent years much attention has been devoted to the possible interaction between melatonin and the immune system .Melatonin has significant immunomodulatory roles in immunocompromised states.Aims: If melatonin causes lymphocyte proliferation in immunocompromised patient e.g., in (HIV patient) it may then prevent opportunistic infection and prolong the life of HIV patients . Materials and Methods The study included 22 HIV+ve subjects chosen randomly from ART centre of SSH (Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi) in which 11 subjects are on antiretroviral therapy(ART) and 11subjects are pre ART (age from 20 yrs to 35 yrs) .Concanavalin -A(con- A) as mitogen( T-cell selective ) for comparative study with melatonin. Controls subject who were not suffering from any disease were include in the study. Results The blastogenic response of the melatonin is higher than con A in preART cases 1.051464 times and in ART cases 1.274476 times higher ( P<0.05). On the other hand the cell cultured with con A showed attenuation .Average Stimulation Index of melatonin in preART cases is 1.093393 and in ART cases is 1.107771 (means 1.01315times higher than Conclusions The in-vitro blastogenic response of the peripheral lymphocyteshowed a better response to melatonin in subjects who undertook anti retro viral drug therapy than the pre-treated group.Melatonin may thus be used as rational treatment of HIV patient along with antiretroviral therapy.