Abstract of the 68th Meeting (Spring Meeting) 6–9 March 1990, Heidelberg

The Harderian Gland of the Djungarian Hamster (<i>Phodopus sungorus</i>): Light- and Electron-Microscopical Investigations

The Harderian gland of the Djungarian hamster Phodopus sungorus was investigated by light and electron microscopy in adult animals of both sexes, held under either long or short photoperiods. These glands have a tubuloalveolar structure. Epithelial cells were seen as small cylindric cells with a large, round nucleus located basally, many small vacuoles distributed throughout the cytoplasm (type I cells) or as rather broad cells with larger vacuoles (type II cells). The ratio of both cell types differed from 1:1 to 2:1 (type I:type II), regardless of the animal’s sex. In the electron microscope, abundant smooth endoplasmic reticulum of the vesicular type and rod-like or oval-shaped mitochond…

Pineal 'synaptic' ribbon numbers and melatonin synthesis of rat are resistant to guanethidine sympathectomy.

Chemical sympathectomy is widely used to study the impact of the noradrenergic system on neuronal and neuroendocrine circuits. We tested the effects of intraperitoneal injections of guanethidine, an adrenergic neuron blocking agent, on selected functional parameters of the rat pineal gland which are known to be under sympathetic influence. The reliability of the method was demonstrated by the clear enophthalmus developed by experimental animals. However, neither the numbers of 'synaptic' ribbons nor melatonin synthesis differed between treated and control rats, both parameters exhibiting the nocturnal increase seen in intact animals. These results are in striking contrast to those obtained …

Electrophysiological properties of rat pinealocytes: Evidence for circadian and ultradian rhythms

Extracellular single-unit recordings were made during day- and night-time in the pineal gland of urethane-anesthetized adult male Sprague-Dawley rats. All cells exhibiting spontaneous electrical activity had firing frequencies from less than 1 Hz to about 100 Hz, and their discharge patterns were characterized as regular, irregular or bursting. While most of the spontaneously active cells (n = 163) showed a uniform activity level throughout the recording period (30-120 min), a group of 9 cells exhibited oscillatory rhythms with periods of 4-8 min. In addition, long-term recordings across day- and night-time from five cells revealed increasing activity during night-time in three cells, while…