Melatonin
Circadian Research
Available sizes: 10 mg
The hormone of biological night
Melatonin is synthesised in the pineal gland from serotonin, by way of two enzymatic steps whose activity is gated by the suprachiasmatic nucleus. Light detected by retinal ganglion cells suppresses its release, so its concentration traces the dark phase of the day.
It is therefore best understood as a signal of time rather than a sedative. Its effect on the clock depends on when it is present, not only on how much — which is why phase-response curves, rather than dose-response curves, are the characteristic figure in this literature.
Two separate research literatures
Melatonin research splits cleanly in two, and conflating them is a common error:
Receptor-mediated chronobiology. MT1 and MT2 receptors in the suprachiasmatic nucleus, phase shifting, entrainment, jet lag and shift-work models. Effective at low concentrations.
Receptor-independent redox chemistry. Direct scavenging of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, and effects on mitochondrial function. Requires far higher concentrations and has nothing to do with the clock.
Read alongside
DSIP approaches sleep from the peptide side, and Epithalon is the pineal-derived bioregulator whose literature frequently references melatonin regulation. Glutathione is the comparator for the antioxidant work.
Documentation and verification
Certificates of Analysis are published for tested products and batches. A certificate is a batch-specific record: it reports what was measured, by which method, on a stated date, against a batch identifier. It is evidence about the sample analysed at the time of analysis, and it is silent on attributes it does not list and on what has happened to the material since.
The batch number is the field that connects the document to a physical vial. Where the identifier on a vial does not appear on a certificate, the certificate does not describe that vial, however thorough the analysis behind it was. Batch records can be searched directly, and the guides below explain what each field establishes and what it does not.
- Verify a batchSearch a batch number for the certificate records published against it.
- How to read a certificate of analysisWhat each field reports, and the limits of what a certificate can establish.
- Certificate, specification and safety data sheetThree documents that answer three different questions.
- Storage and handlingWhat defined storage conditions mean, and why cold slows degradation.
- Batch numbers and traceabilityHow an identifier ties material to the analysis describing it.
Supplied for laboratory research use only. Not for human or veterinary use.