Melatonin is an important hormone regulating circadian rhythm, neuroprotection and neuroimmune processes. However, its exact physiological roles in brain mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, we summarize the mounting evidence implicating melatonin in brain disorders and behavior, based on clinical and experimental studies in-vivo. In addition to rodent models, the zebrafish (Danio rerio) is becoming increasingly utilized in biomedical and neuroscience research. Here, we discuss melatonin neurobiology of zebrafish, and parallel these findings with clinical and rodent data. We also discuss the genomic effects of melatonin in zebrafish, and emphasize the growing utility of zebrafish models to study melatonin neurobiology and drug discovery.

褪黑激素是调节昼夜节律，神经保护和神经免疫过程的重要激素。然而，其在脑机制中确切的生理作用仍然知之甚少。在这里，我们基于体内的临床和实验研究，总结了褪黑激素涉及脑部疾病和行为的越来越多的证据。除了啮齿动物模型外，斑马鱼（Danio rerio）在生物医学和神经科学研究中也越来越多地被利用。在这里，我们讨论了斑马鱼的褪黑激素神经生物学，并将这些发现与临床和啮齿类动物的数据相平行。我们还讨论了褪黑激素在斑马鱼中的基因组效应，并强调了斑马鱼模型在研究褪黑激素神经生物学和药物发现方面的实用性。