Melatonin alleviates aging-related heart failure through melatonin receptor 1A/B knockout in mice

Age-related cardiovascular diseases continue to be important issues that contribute to the societal burden. Unveiling the molecular mechanisms underlying age-related cardiovascular diseases provides novel opportunities to delay aging and facilitate early disease diagnosis and treatment. This study utilized knockout mice lacking melatonin receptors type 1A (MT1) and 1B (MT2). Ultrasonography, pathological staining, and transcriptomics were used to investigate the role of MT1/2 in the hearts of aging mice. Knockout of both receptors decreased ejection fraction and exacerbated fibrosis, inflammation, oxidative stress, and apoptosis levels in aging mice. Our findings indicated that the cardiac function of MT1 knockout mice was more severely affected than that of MT2 knockout mice. Additionally, we observed that intraperitoneal administration of melatonin (20 mg/kg/day for 90 days) ameliorated abnormal cardiac function in aging mice. However, the absence of MT1/2 resulted in the inability of melatonin to improve cardiac function. Our study, utilizing an aging polymerase chain reaction assay and cell experiments, revealed that melatonin receptors potentially influence cardiac function in aging mice through their effects on leukocyte differentiation antigen 14 (CD14) expression. Consequently, melatonin receptors, particularly MT1, are key contributors to cardiac aging, and therapeutic interventions targeting this receptor are promising for delaying the progression of cardiac aging.