Microsoft Word - HRE231BF.rtf

Book Review R.J. Wurtman, F. Waldhauser (eds.) Melatonin in Humans Journal of Neural Transmission, suppl. 21 Springer, Vienna 1986 VIII + 504 pp.; òS 1,390.⁄ DM 198.-ISBN 3-211-81927-4 This book presents an up-to-date assessment of studies concerning the secretion and the role of melatonin in humans and experimental animals. It includes several excellent lectures presented at the international meeting on ‘Melatonin in Humans’ in Vienna 1985. The introduction contains a concise summary of the major discoveries on the pineal gland and an overview of present trends in pineal research (R.J. Wurtman). The first part of this book is devoted to basic sciences and includes important studies on the rhyth-micity of melatonin secretion, its regulation and its influence on sexual development. J. Arendt describes an interesting study on seasonal variations of melatonin secretion in humans living in temperate and polar zones. The second chapter describes the 24-hour rhythmicity of melatonin secretion in man and experimental animals (R.J. Reiter). Three important papers in this section are about the influence of pho-toperiods and melatonin on reproductive functions in animals: M.H. Stetson and M. Watson-Whimyre review the effects of exogenous and endogenous melatonin as well as photoperiodism on gonadal function in three different species of hamsters. In the immature male and female rat R.W. Rivest et al. analyze the present data concerning the modulation of sexual maturation by melatonin and light. The role of melatonin as a time-keeping hormone in the seasonal reproductive cycle of the ewe is described by F.J. Karsch. In the last chapter of this part M. Ebadi and P. Govitrapong discuss the innervation of the mammalian pineal gland and provide a comprehensive account of neurotransmitters affecting melatonin synthesis. The second part of this book, ‘Melatonin, Neu-roendocrine Function and Sleep’, contains three papers discussing a possible role of melatonin during pubertal development in humans: P.C. Sizonenko and M.L. Aubert review the neuroendocrine changes characteristic of sexual maturation in humans. F. Waldhauser and H. Steger describe changes in melatonin secretion with age and pubescence. In this context their observation of a decreased melatonin secretion after 7 years of age appears to be of particular interest. D. Gupta reports also a decline in melatonin secretion with pubertal development and associates nocturnal melatonin secretion with the sekeletal age. In another chapter G.M. Vaughan reviews the influence of sympathetic neurological lesions and of ß-adrenergic antagonists on melatonin secretion. The two last papers in this section, the first one by H.R. Lieberman and the second one by A.A. Borbely, analyze sleep regulation in man and suggest that melatonin might influence the phase of circadian rhythms of sleep and sleepiness. The third part of this book concerns the possible role of melatonin in circadian rhythms and psychiatric diseases in man. N.E. Rosenthal et al. summarize several studies on the influence of photoperiods and melatonin in seasonal affective disorder (SAD), and they