Erren Thomas C, Reiter Russel J, Meyer-Rochow V Benno
Institute and Policlinic for Occupational Medicine, Environmental Medicine and Prevention Research, University of Cologne, Lindenthal, Germany.
Neuro Endocrinol Lett. 2012;33(3):318-20.
That light and melatonin rhythms provide both clock and calendar information in humans and numerous other species is beyond dispute; this holds true for all stages of life, including the very early ones. Experimental evidence elucidates that exposure to light and melatonin titres are keys for the very development of circadian and seasonal rhythms. As evinced by a 2011 publication in Nature Neuroscience such awareness could impact considerably on the design and conduct of experimental studies as well as their subsequent analyses, interpretations and comparisons. Therefore "when and how experimental animals were bred, developed and raised" may be critical when experimenting with animals generally, and not just rodents. As long as the suggested imprinting of circadian system stability via light cues is not falsified, the perinatal season or perinatal experimental light:dark [L:D] conditions that an animal was kept under should be routinely recorded, published and considered in analysing and interpreting study data.
光和褪黑素节律为人类及许多其他物种提供时钟和日历信息，这一点无可争议；在生命的所有阶段都是如此，包括非常早期的阶段。实验证据表明，暴露于光和褪黑素水平是昼夜节律和季节节律发展的关键。正如《自然·神经科学》2011年发表的一篇文章所表明的那样，这种认识可能会对实验研究的设计、实施以及随后的分析、解释和比较产生重大影响。因此，“实验动物何时以及如何繁殖、发育和饲养”在一般动物实验中可能至关重要，而不仅仅是啮齿动物实验。只要通过光信号对昼夜节律系统稳定性的所谓印记没有被证伪，就应该常规记录、发表并在分析和解释研究数据时考虑动物所处的围产期季节或围产期实验光暗[L:D]条件。
