Melatonin fails to protect cardiac mitochondria in sirtuin 1 heterozygous mice placed on a high-fat diet

The present study aims to demonstrate (i) if oral melatonin in the diet improves adverse cardiac mitochondrial changes triggered by an obesogenic high-fat diet in mice and (ii) if reduced SIRT1 availability in heterozygous mice (HET) influences melatonin efficacy under the same dietary regimen. Our data suggest that melatonin improves cardiac mitochondria in anabolic conditions triggered by a high-calorie lard-based diet in mice but only in the presence of full availability of sirtuin 1. Nevertheless, further biochemical and molecular studies are needed to best clarify their strict interdependence, so opening new avenues to melatonin supplementation in clinical trials.