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Melatonergic Drug Ramelteon in Neurotherapeutics

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Melatonin, Neuroprotective Agents and Antidepressant Therapy

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Abstract

Melatonin, the hormone secreted by the pineal gland, plays an important role in sleep induction and sleep maintenance. With the advancement of age, there is a decline in melatonin production, and elderly individuals often complain difficulties in sleep onset, maintenance of sleep-wake rhythm, and poor quality of sleep. Melatonin replacement therapy has been used for treating insomnias but it is not uniformly successful. With the synthesis of melatonergic agonist, ramelteon, a chronohypnotic drug with a higher affinity for MT1 and MT2 melatonergic receptors, treatment of insomnias has become easy, and many clinical studies have attested the efficacy of ramelteon in treating primary insomnia and secondary insomnias associated with neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental disorders like autistic disorder. Melatonin has been implicated in the pathogenesis of delirium and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and has been tried for treatment of these disorders. Although found successful in treating these disorders, melatonergic agonist ramelteon is used for treating autistic disorder and delirium where the drug has been found effective in not only alleviating the sleep disorders but also the behavioral problems. A low or abnormal level of melatonin is suggested as one of the main reasons for the lack of communication skill and socialization which are the main symptoms of ASD. Ramelteon has been used for treating rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (RBD) also and is found to be effective in increasing sleep efficiency and reducing the intensity of behavioral symptoms of this disorder. As a chronohypnotic drug, ramelteon ameliorated the symptoms of jet lag by improving the nighttime sleep efficiency and daytime alertness.

†Author was deceased at the time of publication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sri Sathya Sai Medical Educational and Research Foundation, International Medical Sciences Research Study Center Prasanthi Nilayam, 40-Kovai Thirunagar, Goldwins, Kovai Coimbatore, 641014, Tamilnadu, India

    Venkataramanujam Srinivasan PhD, MAMS

  2. Department of Physiology School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian, 16150, Kelantan, Malaysia

    Rahimah Zakaria

  3. NHS, Department of Mental Health, Psychiatry Service of Diagnosis and Treatment Hospital “G.Mazzini”, ASL-4, Teramo, Italy

    Domenico de Berardis

  4. Department of Neurosciences and Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University “G.D Annunzio”, Chiety, Italy

    Domenico de Berardis

  5. Faculty of Health Sciences, Camilo José Cela University, Villanueva de la Cañada, Madrid, Spain

    Francisco López-Muñoz

  6. Neuropsychopharmacology Unit, Hospital 12 de Octubre Research Institute (i+12), Madrid, Spain

    Francisco López-Muñoz

  7. Portucalense Institute of Neuropsychology and Cognitive and Behavioural Neurosciences, Portucalense University, Porto, Portugal

    Francisco López-Muñoz

  8. Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Asian Institute of Medicine, Science and Technology, Bedong, 08100, Kedah Darul Aman, Malaysia

    Mohd Jamil Yaacob

  9. Department of Psychiatry, School of Medical Sciences Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian, 16150, Kelantan, Malaysia

    Zahiruddin Othman

  10. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Haddasah Medical Center, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 91120, Israel

    Amnon Brzezinski

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  1. Venkataramanujam Srinivasan PhD, MAMS
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  2. Rahimah Zakaria
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  3. Domenico de Berardis
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  4. Francisco López-Muñoz
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  5. Mohd Jamil Yaacob
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  6. Zahiruddin Othman
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  7. Amnon Brzezinski
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Vice-Rectorate for Research and Sci, Camilo José Cela University Vice-Rectorate for Research and Sci, Madrid, Spain

    Francisco López-Muñoz

  2. International Medical Sciences Research Study Center, Sri Sathya Sai Medical Educational & Research Foundation, Coimbatore, India

    Venkataramanujam Srinivasan

  3. Department of Neurosciences and Ima, University of Chieti Department of Neurosciences and Ima, Italy, Italy

    Domenico de Berardis

  4. Department of Biomedical Sciences (Pharmacology Area), University of Alcalá, Madrid, Spain

    Cecilio Álamo

  5. Department of Neuropsychiatry, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

    Takahiro A. Kato

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Srinivasan, V. et al. (2016). Melatonergic Drug Ramelteon in Neurotherapeutics. In: López-Muñoz, F., Srinivasan, V., de Berardis, D., Álamo, C., Kato, T. (eds) Melatonin, Neuroprotective Agents and Antidepressant Therapy. Springer, New Delhi. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-2803-5_16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-2803-5_16

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