Figure 11.

Schematic diagram of melatonin induced protection against LPS-induced acute myocardial injury primarily via AMPK/mTOR/autophagy signaling. In this schematic diagram, gray arrows indicate the effects of LPS and blue arrows indicate the effects of melatonin. LPS significantly increases pNF-κB, IL-6, TNF-α levels, and decreases IκBα levels, which further damages mitochondrial function and increases apoptosis. Melatonin activated AMPK and further activated autophagy through suppressing mTOR. Activation of autophagy protected cell from mitochondria damage related apoptosis and decreased inflammation levels.