Kunz D, Schmitz S, Mahlberg R, Mohr A, Stöter C, Wolf K J, Herrmann W M
Department of Psychiatry, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany.
Neuropsychopharmacology. 1999 Dec;21(6):765-72. doi: 10.1016/S0893-133X(99)00069-X.
Even though exogenous melatonin has proven to influence sleep and circadian parameters, low endogenous melatonin is not related to sleep disturbances, nor does it predict response to melatonin replacement therapy. In this manuscript, we present a new concept towards a definition of a melatonin deficit. The purpose of the study was to introduce a marker for an intra-individual decrease in melatonin production. Therefore, we developed a method to quantify the degree of pineal calcification (DOC) using cranial computed tomography. Combining pineal DOC with the organs's size, we estimated the uncalcified pineal gland volume. This estimation was positively and significantly associated with 6-sulfatoxymelatonin (aMT6s), collected over 24 hours in urine, in 26 subjects. Data yielded evidence that the decline in aMT6s excretion with age can be sufficiently explained by an increased pineal calcification. These results suggest that DOC might be useful as an indicator of an intra-individual, decreased capability of the pineal gland to produce melatonin. DOC might prove to be a response-marker for melatonin replacement therapy and a vulnerability marker of the circadian timing system.
尽管外源性褪黑素已被证明会影响睡眠和昼夜节律参数，但内源性褪黑素水平低与睡眠障碍无关，也不能预测对褪黑素替代疗法的反应。在本手稿中，我们提出了一个关于褪黑素缺乏定义的新概念。该研究的目的是引入一种个体内褪黑素分泌减少的标志物。因此，我们开发了一种使用头颅计算机断层扫描来量化松果体钙化程度（DOC）的方法。将松果体DOC与松果体大小相结合，我们估算了未钙化的松果体体积。在26名受试者中，这种估算与24小时尿液中收集的6-硫酸氧基褪黑素（aMT6s）呈显著正相关。数据表明，随着年龄增长，aMT6s排泄量的下降可以通过松果体钙化增加得到充分解释。这些结果表明，DOC可能作为个体内松果体产生褪黑素能力下降的指标。DOC可能被证明是褪黑素替代疗法的反应标志物以及昼夜节律系统的易损性标志物。
