0000000000243422
AUTHOR
A. Huesgen
showing 3 related works from this author
Day/night serotonin levels in the pineal gland of male BALB/c mice with melatonin deficiency
1988
Abstract. Studies from another laboratory have shown that several strains of laboratory mice have a genetic defect for melatonin synthesis. In non-deficient species, melatonin synthesis undergoes a typical, β-adrenergically regulated day/night rhythm with low melatonin levels during daytime and high levels at night, the precursor serotonin showing an inverse behaviour. This study examines whether a day/night rhythm of pineal serotonin levels exists in melatonin-deficient male BALB/c mice. Mice kept under a lighting schedule of 12 h light (lights on at 07.00 h) and 12 h dark were killed at 13.00 and 01.00 h, respectively. Serotonin amounted to 12-15 ng/pineal and did not show regular day/nig…
The effects of short pulses of light at night on numbers of pineal "synaptic" ribbons and serotonin N-acetyltransferase activity in male Sprague-Dawl…
1986
To characterize further the functionally enigmatic "synaptic" ribbons (SR) of the mammalian pineal gland and to study possible relationships to melatonin synthesis, in the present investigation rats were exposed to short pulses of light at night when both SR numbers and serotonin N-acetyltransferase (NAT) activity are high in comparison to day-time values. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were killed at 13:00 and 01:00 h, respectively, and at 01:10 and 02:00 h after exposure to light for 10 and 60 min, respectively. The pineals were rapidly taken out and cut sagittally in half. One half was processed for electron-microscopic quantitation of SR numbers and the other half for NAT determinations. It w…
The pineal complex in Roman high avoidance and Roman low avoidance rats.
1990
Previous studies have shown that the pineal gland of Roman high avoidance (RHA/Verh) rats is larger than that of Roman low avoidance rats (RLA/Verh). In the present study measurement of enzyme activities (serotonin-N-acetyl-transferase, hydroxyindole-O-methyltransferase) revealed that pineals of RHA/Verh rats are twice as active in melatonin production than pineals of RLA/Verh rats. Indoleamine content was also higher in RHA/Verh rats, whereas noradrenaline content was the same in both lines. When values were expressed per mg protein, these differences disappeared except for N-acetyl-serotonin and noradrenaline which were higher or lower in RHA/Verh rats, respectively. Both lines had higher…