Pévet P, Vivien-Roels B, Masson-Pévet M, Steinlechner S, Skene D, Canguilhem B
Laboratoire de Zoologie CNRS URA 226 Neurobiologie des Fonctions Rhythmiques et Saisonnieres, Strasbourg, France.
J Pineal Res. 1989;6(3):233-42. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-079x.1989.tb00419.x.
In female European hamsters killed in spring and early summer, pineal melatonin content exhibited no day/night rhythm. Absolute levels measured were relatively low, being on the order of daytime levels detected in other hamster species. An absence of day/night changes in the activity of N-acetyltransferase was also observed. However, a marked rhythm in pineal serotonin (5-HT) was found, an abrupt large increase being observed at the beginning of the light period. The day/night rhythm of pineal 5-HIAA content is similar to that of 5-HT. This absence of rhythm in pineal melatonin formation might mean that in the European hamster it is not melatonin but another substance that is of importance in photoperiodism. An absence of melatonin rhythm, however, could also be simply a peculiar pattern of melatonin production observed at a given period of the year. In this case, melatonin would be able to transduce photoperiodic information in the European hamster, as in other photoperiodic species.
在春季和初夏处死的雌性欧洲仓鼠中，松果体褪黑素含量没有昼夜节律。所测的绝对水平相对较低，与在其他仓鼠物种中检测到的白天水平相当。还观察到N - 乙酰转移酶活性没有昼夜变化。然而，发现松果体血清素（5 - HT）有明显的节律，在光照期开始时会突然大幅增加。松果体5 - HIAA含量的昼夜节律与5 - HT相似。松果体褪黑素形成缺乏节律可能意味着在欧洲仓鼠中，对光周期现象起重要作用的不是褪黑素，而是另一种物质。然而，褪黑素节律的缺失也可能仅仅是在一年中的特定时期观察到的一种特殊的褪黑素分泌模式。在这种情况下，褪黑素将能够像在其他光周期物种中一样，在欧洲仓鼠中传递光周期信息。
