In teleostean bony fishes, studies on the adults of various species have shown that pineal photoreceptors are maximally sensitive to short- and middle-wavelength light, possibly utilising both rod-like and pineal-specific opsins. Until recently, however, very little was known about the pineal opsins present in embryonic and larval teleosts and their relationships to opsins expressed by retinal ...

Melatonin has been suggested to play a role in fish osmoregulation, and in salmonids has been related to the timing of adaptive mechanisms during smolting. It has been described that acclimation to different environmental salinities alters levels of circulating melatonin in a number of fish species, including rainbow trout. However, nothing is known regarding salinity effects on melatonin synth...

The demonstration of the hormone mclatonin (N-acetyl-Bmethoxytryptamine) in bovine pineal gland (1) prompted a study of the enzymes involved in its formation and metabolism. In preliminary studies (2, 3) we described an enzyme, hydroxyindole-O-methyl transferase, in the pineal gland of cows, that catalyzes the 0-methylation of N-acetyl-serotonin to melatonin. This paper describes the purificati...

The demonstration of the hormone mclatonin (N-acetyl-Bmethoxytryptamine) in bovine pineal gland (1) prompted a study of the enzymes involved in its formation and metabolism. In preliminary studies (2, 3) we described an enzyme, hydroxyindole-O-methyl transferase, in the pineal gland of cows, that catalyzes the 0-methylation of N-acetyl-serotonin to melatonin. This paper describes the purificati...

Intraparenchymal haemorrhage in a pineal germinoma is a very rare, though clinically significant event. We report the first case of a significantly delayed intraparenchymal haemorrhage in a pineal germinoma, 14 days after endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV), causing precipitous patient deterioration. We discuss potential contributing pathophysiological factors, and seek to illustrate that kn...

Structural differences between the left and right sides of the brain exist throughout the vertebrate lineage. By studying the zebrafish pineal complex, which exhibits notable asymmetries, both the genes and the cell movements that result in left-right differences can be characterized. The pineal complex consists of the midline pineal organ and the left-sided parapineal organ. The parapineal is ...

The objective of the study was to evaluate the effect of pretreatments such as gonadectomy in male and female rats, and gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRHa) administration in female rats, on levels of secretion of melatonin, using an organ culture of pineal glands. Gonadectomy 2 weeks before the animal was killed increased the amount of melatonin secreted into the medium by the pineal...

Deficits in neuroendocrine-immune system functioning, including alterations in pineal and thymic glands, contribute to aging-associated diseases. This study looks at ageing-associated alterations in pineal and thymic gland functioning evaluating common signaling molecules present in both human and animal pinealocytes and thymocytes: endocrine cell markers (melatonin, serotonin, pCREB, AANAT, CG...