melatonin   Click here for help

GtoPdb Ligand ID: 224

Abbreviated name: MLT
Synonyms: Circadin®
Approved drug PDB Ligand Immunopharmacology Ligand
melatonin is an approved drug (EMA (2007))
Compound class: Metabolite
Comment: Melatonin is a hormone involved in regulating circadian rhythms in animals. Melatonin activates a family of melatonin receptors.

SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19: The effect of viral infection (including by influenza and SARS-CoV-2) on the melatonergic pathway, and how this might modulate the inflammatory response was reviewed by Anderson and Reiter in May 2020 [1].
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Ligand Activity Visualisation Charts

These are box plot that provide a unique visualisation, summarising all the activity data for a ligand taken from ChEMBL and GtoPdb across multiple targets and species. Click on a plot to see the median, interquartile range, low and high data points. A value of zero indicates that no data are available. A separate chart is created for each target, and where possible the algorithm tries to merge ChEMBL and GtoPdb targets by matching them on name and UniProt accession, for each available species. However, please note that inconsistency in naming of targets may lead to data for the same target being reported across multiple charts.

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View interactive charts of activity data across species

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View more information in the IUPHAR Pharmacology Education Project: melatonin

melatonin is commercially available from our sponsors

2D Structure
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2D Structure

An image of the ligand's 2D structure. For small molecules with SMILES these are drawn using the NCI/CADD Chemical Identifier Resolver. Click on the image to access the chemical structure search tool with the ligand pre-loaded in the structure editor. For other types of ligands, e.g. longer nucleotides and peptides, a manually drawn representation of the molecule may be provided.

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Physico-chemical Properties
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Physico-chemical Properties

Calculated molecular properties are available for small molecules and natural products (not peptides). Properties were generated using the Chemistry Development Kit (CDK) (Willighagen EL et al. Journal of Cheminformatics vol. 9:33. 2017, doi:10.1186/s13321-017-0220-4; https://cdk.github.io/). All properties were selected to enable the prediction of the Lipinski Rule-of-Five profile or ‘druglikeness’ for each ligand. For more info on each category see the help pages.

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Hydrogen bond acceptors 2
Hydrogen bond donors 2
Rotatable bonds 5
Topological polar surface area 54.12
Molecular weight 232.12
XLogP 1.6
No. Lipinski's rules broken 0

Generated using the Chemistry Development Kit (CDK) (Willighagen EL et al. Journal of Cheminformatics vol. 9:33. 2017, doi:10.1186/s13321-017-0220-4; https://cdk.github.io/)
SMILES / InChI / InChIKey
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SMILES / InChI / InChIKey

SMILES (Simplified Molecular Input Line Entry Specification) A specification for unambiguously describing the structure of chemical molecules using short ASCII strings. Canonical SMILES specify a unique representation of the 2D structure without chiral or isotopic specifications. Isomeric SMILES include chiral specification and isotopes.

Standard InChI (IUPAC International Chemical Identifier) and InChIKey InChI is a non-proprietary, standard, textual identifier for chemical substances designed to facilitate linking of information and database searching. An InChIKey is a simplified version of a full InChI, designed for easier web searching.

Generated using the Chemistry Development Kit (CDK) (Willighagen EL et al. Journal of Cheminformatics vol. 9:33. 2017, doi:10.1186/s13321-017-0220-4; https://cdk.github.io/)

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Canonical SMILES COc1ccc2c(c1)c(CCNC(=O)C)c[nH]2
Isomeric SMILES COc1ccc2c(c1)c(CCNC(=O)C)c[nH]2
InChI InChI=1S/C13H16N2O2/c1-9(16)14-6-5-10-8-15-13-4-3-11(17-2)7-12(10)13/h3-4,7-8,15H,5-6H2,1-2H3,(H,14,16)
InChI Key DRLFMBDRBRZALE-UHFFFAOYSA-N

Generated using the Chemistry Development Kit (CDK) (Willighagen EL et al. Journal of Cheminformatics vol. 9:33. 2017, doi:10.1186/s13321-017-0220-4; https://cdk.github.io/)
No information available.
Summary of Clinical Use Click here for help
Melatonin is used in the treatment of insomnia and is also a powerful antioxidant. It is available without a prescription as an over-the-counter dietary supplement in the US. In the EU it is a prescription-only medicine. Anti-oxidative/neuroprotective efficacy of melatonin is under investigation in clinical studies in Alzheimer's disease patients. It may also be beneficial in managing sleep disturbances in dementia [10].
Mechanism Of Action and Pharmacodynamic Effects Click here for help
Melatonin agonists act to shorten sleep onset latency and advance the circadian phase, to promote sleep.
Clinical Trials
Clinical Trial ID Title Type Source Comment References
NCT00940589 Efficacy of Circadin® 2 mg in Patients With Mild to Moderate Alzheimer Disease Treated With AChE Inhibitor Phase 2 Interventional Neurim Pharmaceuticals Ltd.
NCT00544791 The Effect of Melatonin on Cognitive Function in Patients Diagnosed With Mild Cognitive Impairment Phase 2 Interventional Assaf-Harofeh Medical Center
NCT04522960 Melatonin in Alzheimer's Disease: Effect on Disease Progression and Epileptiform Activity. N/A Interventional Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel
External links Click here for help
For extended ADME data see the following:

Electronic Medicines Compendium (eMC)
European Medicines Agency (EMA)