OXYGEN-FREE RADICALS, MELATONIN, AND AGING

The recognized peripheral and central biochemical, neuroendocrinologic al, behavioral, pharmacological, and clinical actions of melatonin are involved at different levels of an overall concept of the pathophysio logy of aging. This conceptual approach combines the biochemistry of o xygen free radicals, the social behavior of the individual and the res ulting cellular alterations. This has allowed us to propose antioxidan t properties of melatonin that we have experimentally demonstrated.