Antoniuk-Shcheglova I. Melatonin-producing function of the pineal gland by aging. The ways of correction

This dissertation is devoted to pineal gland melatonin-producing function changes in elderly people and its influence on processes of aging and development of age-depended pathology and making out the efficiency of the usage of melatonin and pineal gland peptide factors in elderly people. It was estimated that the functional activity of pineal gland is decreased in the majority of elderly people and is one of the factors of accelerated aging. It was also detected, that functional condition of elderly people depends on the pineal gland melatonin secretion value: still it is high, thus the functional activity is better, stress resistance is higher. It was shown, that pineal gland melatonin producing function decreasing progresses by the age-depended pathology and is one of the pathogenesis factors of essential hypertension as well as metabolic disorders in elderly people. Functional insufficiency increases with the disease severity increasing. For the purpose of compensation of age-decreased melatonin-producing function usage of the substitution doses of melatonin was proposed and the 0.5 mg melatonin dose is optimal for the correction of age-decreased pineal gland melatonin-producing function. Pineal gland peptide drug - epithalamin, causes modulation influence on pineal gland functional status, recovers pineal gland melatonin-producing function only in elderly people with decreased melatonin secretion. The expediency of pineal gland factors usage by the age-depended pathology was justified (IHD, EH, MS and DM type2).