study about melatonin
Bimodal circadian secretion of melatonin from the pineal gland in a living CBA mouse
Daiichiro Nakahara * , Masato Nakamura *, Masayuki Iigo , and Hitoshi Okamura
*Department of Psychology, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, 1-20-1 Handayama, Hamamatsu 431-3192, Japan; Department of Anatomy, St. Marianna University School of Medicine, Miyamae, Kawasaki 216-8511, Japan; and Division of Molecular Brain Science, Department of Brain Sciences, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-cho, Chuo-ku 650-0071, Japan
Edited by Jeremy Nathans, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD and approved June 9, 2003 (received for review March 7, 2003)
Circadian melatonin secretion is the best-known output signal from the circadian pacemaker in the suprachiasmatic nucleus that indicates internal conditions of the body. We have established a system that enables long-term monitoring of melatonin secretion by implanting a transverse microdialysis probe in or near the pineal gland in a freely moving mouse. This in vivo method enabled continuous measurement of melatonin secretion over a period of >20 days in individual CBA mice, with simultaneous recording of the locomotor activity. Pineal melatonin secretion was completely matched to the circadian change of locomotor activity, and for the light-induced phase shift, the shift of melatonin secretion was clearer than the shift of locomotor rhythm. This analysis allowed us to detect rhythm with a high sensitivity: two peaks of daily secretion were observed, with the first small peak at the day–night transition time and the second large peak at midnight. The large nighttime peak was suppressed by tetrodotoxin, a Na+ channel blocker, and enhanced by both phenylephrine and isoproterenol, - and -adrenergic agonists, whereas daytime melatonin levels were not affected by tetrodotoxin infusion. This finding suggests that, in CBA mice, melatonin release at night is activated by adrenergic signaling from the superior cervical ganglion, but the enhancement of melatonin during daytime is not mediated by neuronal signaling