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Melatonin Increases Both Life Span and Tumor Incidence in Female CBA Mice

^a N. N. Petrov Research Institute of Oncology, St. Petersburg, Russia
^b St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia
^c D. O. Ott Research Institute of Obstetrics and Gynecology, St. Petersburg, Russia
^d Institute of Control Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
^e Max-Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany

Vladimir N. Anisimov, Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Aging, N. N. Petrov Research Institute of Oncology, Pesochny-2, St. Petersburg 197758, Russia E-mail: aging{at}mail.ru.

Decision Editor: John Faulkner, PhD

From the age of 6 months until their natural deaths, female CBA mice were given melatonin with their drinking water (20 mg/l) for 5 consecutive days every month. Intact mice served as controls. The results of this study show that the consumption of melatonin did not significantly influence food consumption, but it did increase the body weight of older mice; it did not influence physical strength or the presence of fatigue; it decreased locomotor activity and body temperature; it inhibited free radical processes in serum, brain, and liver; it slowed down the age-related switching-off of estrous function; and it increased life span. However, we also found that treatment with the used dose of melatonin increased spontaneous tumor incidence in mice. For this reason, we concluded that it would be premature to recommend melatonin as a geroprotector for long-term use.

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