Circadian pineal modulation of pituitary effect on murine corticosterone in vitro.

An old controversy is resolved as a novel effect: In a rhythmic fashion, aqueous pineal homogenate (APH) enhances, attenuates or leaves unaffected the production of corticosterone by mouse adrenals incubated with pituitary media. All glands stem from the same circadian stage in these (isophasic) studies on 72 female CD2F1 mice, standardized for two weeks in L 0600-1800 and D 1800-0600. Every 4 hours during a 24-hour span, 12 mice were killed. Pineals were removed for the preparation of APH and stored at 4 degrees C. Hypothalami, pituitaries and adrenals were removed, bisected and placed in wells containing 1 ml Krebs-Ringer buffer (K), at 4 degrees C, until incubation. At each circadian stage, bisected adrenals were incubated with 95% O2 and 5% CO2 at 37 +/- 1 degree C for 5 hours, with K only or with the addition of 0.05 IU ACTH 1-17 or APH or with isophasic pituitary or hypothalamic preincubation media with and without APH or muscle. Media were stored at -20 degrees C until corticosterone RIA. A circadian rhythm (p less than 0.05) characterized corticosterone production after stimulation by the pituitary alone or with APH. The overall modulatory effect of APH is an increased circadian amplitude of adrenal corticosterone production, in response to the isophasic pituitary.