Changes in rodent thyroid hormones and cyclic-AMP following treatment with pineal indolic compounds.

Treatment of rats with pineal indolic compounds 5-methoxytryptophol, 5-hydroxytryptophol and serotonin brought about a significant increase in serum thyroxine levels, while serotonin and melatonin caused an increase in thyroid cAMP content with corresponding decrease in the gland's hormones. The total quantity of cAMP in the thyroid was also increased by melatonin in the organ culture system. All these findings would indicate that some of the pineal indoleamines elicit a direct action on the thyroid by stimulating the adenyl cyclase activity and intrathyroidal cAMP, bringing about increased release of thyroxine into the blood stream, and that this is usually not accompanied by adequate synthesis in the gland. Our observation that continuous darkness, which stimulates pineal activity, also brought about an increase in cAMP, concours with our finding of a stimulatory effect of the indolic compounds on thyroid hormone release.