An Integrative Transcriptomic and Metabolomic Study Revealed That Melatonin Plays a Protective Role in Chronic Lung Inflammation by Reducing Necroptosis

It has been reported that melatonin can relieve the symptoms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) by improving sleep quality, that is to say, the pineal secreted hormone melatonin has a protective effect in the pathogenesis of COPD, but its underlying mechanism remains unclear. In this study, we recruited 73 people into control (n = 22), stable COPD (n = 20), and acute exacerbation of COPD (n = 31) groups to detect the serum melatonin levels. Then, through the mouse model, we employed a systematic study based on the metabolomic and transcriptomic analyses to investigate the molecular mechanisms involved in the progression of the disease. Circulating melatonin in acute exacerbation of COPD patients was decreased compared with that in healthy donors and stable COPD patients. The serum melatonin level was positively correlated with lung function parameters, such as FEV1, FEV1/FVC, and FEV1% predicted in acute exacerbation of COPD patients. Animal experiments showed that melatonin can not only alleviate chronic lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced mouse lung destruction and chronic lung inflammation but also reduce necroptosis (RIP1/RIP3/MLKL), a programmed cell death process in bronchial epithelial cells. The protective effect of melatonin on chronic lung inflammation was further suggested to be dependent on targeting its membrane receptor MT1/MT2. In addition, transcriptomic and metabolomic profiling in the lungs of mice indicated that LPS can induce perturbations of the mainstream metabolites associated with amino acid and energy metabolism. Melatonin may reduce the necroptosis by modifying the disordered pathways of alanine, aspartate, and glutamate metabolism caused by LPS. This study suggests that melatonin may act as a potential therapeutic agent for alleviating the chronic inflammation associated with COPD.