[Melatonin, aging and tumors of the prostate]

Morphological changes that take place in the epiphysis in the course of age involution are inseparably associated with a drastic decrease in the synthesis of melatonin (MT) - the main hormone of the pineal gland that coordinates biorhythms of the body at all system levels. The pineal gland is not the only organ able producing MT Multiple research have proved that the extrapineal MT is also widely present in human and animal organism. In this paper we present the results of our own research upon whose analysis we can base a hypothesis that MT and serotonin can play an important role in the mechanisms of the prostate aging. On the one hand, they both can perform regulatory function for the prostate's normal work; on the other, these agents in one form or another can take part in the pathogenesis of such disfunctions as cancer and benign prostate hyperplasia.