Lewy A J, Newsome D A
J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1983 Jun;56(6):1103-7. doi: 10.1210/jcem-56-6-1103.
Six of 10 blind subjects had unusual melatonin circadian secretory patterns. One of these subjects, studied longitudinally, appeared to have a free-running melatonin secretory rhythm with a period of 24.7 h. Another subject, also studied longitudinally, appeared to secrete melatonin during the day (instead of during the night). Therefore, some blind subjects appear to have different types of circadian rhythm abnormalities. These findings along with previous work demonstrating suppression of human melatonin secretion by light suggest that the light-dark cycle may be important in the regulation of the human melatonin circadian secretory rhythm. These findings may stimulate more research on the endocrinological consequences of blindness as well as on the biological effects of light in humans.
10名盲人受试者中有6人具有异常的褪黑素昼夜分泌模式。其中一名受试者接受了纵向研究，其褪黑素分泌节律似乎是自由运行的，周期为24.7小时。另一名同样接受纵向研究的受试者似乎在白天分泌褪黑素（而非在夜间）。因此，一些盲人受试者似乎存在不同类型的昼夜节律异常。这些发现以及之前证明光照会抑制人体褪黑素分泌的研究表明，明暗周期可能在调节人体褪黑素昼夜分泌节律中起重要作用。这些发现可能会激发更多关于失明的内分泌后果以及光对人类的生物学影响的研究。
