In order to examine the effect of exogenous melatonin on selected blood indices, dairy goats were given pineal gland hormone at a dose of 0.1 mg/kg body weight. Next, one and four hours after the melatonin had been administered, blood samples were collected from the goats in the control and treated groups in order to determine the levels of glucose, total cholesterol, triacyloglycerides, free f...

The purpose of this paper is to report a rare case of a pediatric pineal gliosarcoma. Gliomas on the pineal region are uncommon, representing 0.4%-1% of all brain tumors. Furthermore, pediatric gliosarcomas are a very rare entity. We present a case of a 5-year-old girl, with a history of headache, vomiting, diplopia, and gait disturbances. A pineal tumor was found with pathology results consist...

The melatonin (5-methoxy-N-acetylserotonin) content and N-acetyltransferase activity of rat pineal increase rapidly in response to physical immobilization or insulin-induced hypoglycemia. Carbohydrate consumption, which causes insulin release without hypoglycemia, does not elicit these pineal responses. Prior treatment with propranolol, a beta-adrenergic blocking agent, inhibits the N-acetyltra...

phenomenon, being found on up to 40% of autopsy cases1. However, symptomatology as a result of these cysts is considerably rare. Mukherjee, Banerji and Sharma identified 74 cases in the literature1. Symptomatic pineal cysts present as one of three syndromes identified by Wisoff and Epstein2: (1) paroxysmal headache with gaze paresis, (2) chronic headache, gaze paresis, papilledema and hydroceph...

In this immunohistochemical study we investigate the presence of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) and neuropeptide Y (NPY) during embryonic development in the sheep pineal gland. We use ten ovine embryos at different stages of development (117 to 150 days of prenatal development). The VIP positive fibers were observed along the blood vessels, entering the pineal gland through the pineal caps...

ONSIDERABLE evidence exists which suggests an antigonadotrophic function for the mammalian pineal organ (1). Furthermore, Wurtman et al. (2), in confirming and extending the work of others, have shown that pinealectomy in the immature female rat produces premature vaginal opening and hypertrophy of the ovary, adrenal and pituitary, whereas chronic administration of an aqueous pineal extract cou...

OBJECTIVES Pineal gland hormone, melatonin, is a current issue of interest for accumulating data concerning its diverse physiological functions. The disturbances in melatonin secretion are observed in different pathological conditions involving pineal regions, but it is not ascertained if those disturbances present any clinical implications. The aim of this work was to examine whether pineal gl...

Extracts of porcine pineal glands inhibited ovulation induced with gonadotropins (PMS(; and HCG) in prepuberal mice. Ovulations in mice given gonadotropins plus .0, .125, .25, .5 and 1.0 dose units of crude pineal extract (1.0 dose unit to 1.1 mg extractable protein) averaged 14.0, 9.2, 6.8, 6.0 and 2.9 ovulations per mouse, respectively. This was a significant inhibition over the controls (P<....

In green iguanas, the pineal controls the circadian rhythm of body temperature but not the rhythm of locomotor activity. As part of a program to investigate the characteristics of this multioscillator circadian system, the authors studied the circadian rhythms of the electroretinographic response (ERG) and asked whether the pineal gland is necessary for the expression of this rhythm. ERGs from ...

The relationship between the pineal gland and aging has been assumed already nearly a century ago. Recently, melatonin was considered by some authors as a "wonder drug." The present paper tries to summarize the relationship between melatonin and aging in three points. 1. Decline of melatonin production during aging. 2. The role of the pineal gland in the regulation of the ovarian cycle in aged ...