The team of researchers from the three centers has discovered a new molecular mechanism of the anti-obesity effects of chronic administration of melatonin, a natural hormone that the body itself secretes during the darkness of the night.

To develop the study, the results of which have published in the Journal of Pineal Researchh, melatonin was administered recurrently and chronically to a group of obese diabetic rats.

«The results have been surprising, since the animals that were treated with melatonin saw how not only the mass of brown adipose tissue increased, but also the thermogenic activity of their body improved and, in parallel, the mass of dangerous white adipose tissue decreased, the central or visceral,” explained in a statement the main author of the work, Professor of Pharmacology Ahmad Agil Abdalla, member of the Biomedical Research Center (CIBM) ​​of the University of Granada.

The obesitywith a high impact on health, is currently responsible for up to three million deaths a year and the number of obese people in Spain is gradually growing until it affects around 27% of the population.

Researchers have shown that Melatonin is closely linked to loss of body weight gain, since at the tissue level, the amount of brown fat increases; and at the organ level, it increases mitochondrial mass and functionality, among others.

Previous studies by several international groups, including that of the University of Granada, had already shown that melatonin has powerful antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-obesogenic effects.

The anti-obesity effect is carried out by two thermogenic mechanisms since melatonin has the ability to convert subcutaneous white fat into beige fat, and to increase the amount of this brown fat and thermogenic activity.

«We have shown that melatonin has the function of regulating obesity in rodents, in animals, but yes, without affecting food intake and nor does it affect physical activity, which is why we think it could be another tool to fight against obesity. obesity,” said the researcher.

The research work led by Ahmad Agil has added collaboration with Gumersindo Fernández Vázquez, specialist in endocrinology and nutrition in the Endocrinology and Nutrition service of the La Paz-Carlos III Hospital in Madrid, and Russel Reiter from the Department of Cellular and Structural Biology , University of Texas Health Science Center.