Conti A, Maestroni G J
Istituto Cantonale di Patologia, Centre for Experimental Pathology, Locarno, Switzerland.
J Pineal Res. 1996 Apr;20(3):138-44. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-079x.1996.tb00249.x.
Production of melatonin in the pineal gland of inbred mice such as C57B1/6J, BALB/c and AKR strains is still a matter of debate. In previous studies, we and other authors showed that these strains of inbred mice have a clear-cut circadian rhythm of serum melatonin and urinary 6-hydroxy-melatonin-sulphate. In contrast, other groups claimed these mice are unable to synthesize melatonin. These studies were based on RIA measurements and/or estimates of N-acetyltransferase (NAT) and hydroxyindole-O-methyltransferase (HIOMT) activities. In the present study we validate the presence of melatonin in the pineal gland of C57B1/6, BALB/c, and AKR mice by HPLC determinations. We found a short-term melatonin peak in the middle of the dark period with a pattern which mirrors that found previously in the serum. The possibility remains, although it seems unlikely, that the pineal melatonin rhythm measured here represents melatonin produced elsewhere which then was subsequently taken up by the pineal gland.
在诸如C57B1/6J、BALB/c和AKR等近交系小鼠的松果体中褪黑素的产生仍然存在争议。在先前的研究中，我们和其他作者表明，这些近交系小鼠的血清褪黑素和尿6-羟基褪黑素硫酸盐具有明显的昼夜节律。相比之下，其他研究小组则声称这些小鼠无法合成褪黑素。这些研究是基于放射免疫分析测量和/或对N-乙酰转移酶（NAT）和羟基吲哚-O-甲基转移酶（HIOMT）活性的估计。在本研究中，我们通过高效液相色谱法测定验证了C57B1/6、BALB/c和AKR小鼠松果体中褪黑素的存在。我们在黑暗期中期发现了一个短期的褪黑素峰值，其模式与之前在血清中发现的模式相似。尽管这种可能性似乎不大，但这里测量到的松果体褪黑素节律仍有可能代表在其他地方产生、随后被松果体吸收的褪黑素。
