Local Delivery of Melatonin Along With Bone Grafts to Improve Osteogenesis

This review is an attempt to investigate the effects of local delivery of melatonin along with bone grafts to improve osteogenesis. A systematic literature search was done from January 1970 to December 2023 using PubMed following PRISMA instructions. A structured search was carried out to identify in vivo and in vitro studies. After screening the articles based on the abstract and title, 24 articles were included. The included studies were animal/human in vivo studies or in vitro studies. In total, 91.7% of the studies reported better outcomes in comparison with the control groups. Melatonin potentially can affect many signaling molecules and pathways promoting osteoblastic differentiation, such as activating pathways including Wnt, Nrf2/HO-1, PI3K/AKT, MAPK, NFkB, SIRT/SOD, BMP/Smad, PERK/ATF4. In conclusion, locally administered melatonin may stimulate bone healing in surgical bone defects and enhance peri-implant bone response.