The duodenal mucosa is regularly exposed to acid, digestive enzymes and ingested noxious agents. It is thus critical to maintain a protective barrier to prevent the development of mucosal injury and inflammation, which are often observed in situations when barrier function is impaired. The rate of mucosal bicarbonate secretion, the regulation of epithelial paracellular permeability and motility are each key components of duodenal barrier function. The hormone melatonin is present in high levels in the gastrointestinal tract and it has been hypothesized that melatonin exerts protective properties. This thesis aims to investigate the impact of exogenous melatonin on the regulation of duodenal barrier function and motility in anesthetized rats in vivo. In addition, duodenal tissue was examined histologically and the expression levels of tight junction proteins and melatonin receptors were assessed with qRT-PCR. It was found that melatonin stimulated mucosal bicarbonate secretion and decreased basal paracellular permeability. Exposing the duodenal mucosa to the well-characterized barrier breaker ethanol increased mucosal bicarbonate secretion, paracellular permeability and motility. Omission of luminal Clˉ abolished, while pretreatment with a nicotinic receptor antagonist reduced, the ethanol-induced bicarbonate secretion suggesting that the secretory response to ethanol is meditated via Clˉ/HCO3ˉexchangers and enteric neural pathways. Melatonin reduced the ethanol-induced increases in paracellular permeability and motility either when injected intravenously or when administered in drinking water for two weeks. The actions of melatonin were abolished by the melatonin receptor antagonist luzindole and by nicotinic acetylcholine receptor inhibition. Two weeks oral administration of melatonin up-regulated the expression levels of melatonin receptors, down-regulated the expression of ZO-3 while the expression of ZO-1, ZO-2, claudin 2-4, occludin and myosin light chain kinase were unaffected. Superficial epithelial changes in a few villi were seen in response to ethanol exposure, an effect that was histologically unchanged by melatonin pretreatment. In conclusion, the results suggest that melatonin plays an important role in the neurohumoral regulation of gastrointestinal mucosal barrier function and motility via receptor- and enteric neural-dependent pathways in vivo in rats. Melatonin might be a candidate for treatment of barrier dysfunction in humans
