PMID: 8609592Aug 1, 1995Paper

Daytime dark exposure increases pineal melatonin in rat pups

Journal of Pineal Research
M L LaaksoA Alila

Abstract

Photic regulation of the pineal melatonin synthesis was studied in 3- to 21-day-old rat pups by exposing the animals to light at night (30-40 min) or to darkness during the day (30-240 min). The pineal melatonin contents were measured by radioimmunoassay. A significant day/night difference in the melatonin content and the nocturnal light-induced decrease were not found until second postnatal week. A novel finding was that at the age of 13-17 days a daytime dark exposure elevated the pineal melatonin content; it was twofold as compared with the normal daytime level and about half of the nocturnal peak level. In 21-day-old rats the response had disappeared, while the nocturnal suppression by light persisted. The dark-induced increase of the melatonin synthesis was independent of the opening of the eyelids which occurs in pups at the age of two weeks, but it was greater in maternally isolated than non-isolated pups. The results suggest that one component of the circadian regulatory system matures at the end of the third postnatal week. This mechanism inhibits the elevation of the melatonin synthesis by darkness during the daytime.

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Citations

Aug 12, 1999·Chronobiology International·N Mrosovsky
Feb 14, 2012·Chronobiology International·Shweta SharmaDilip Joshi
Oct 1, 1996·Journal of Pineal Research·M L LaaksoS M Mustanoja
Sep 18, 1997·Medical Hypotheses·J RecioE Challet

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