Biological rhythms of tissue basophils of the rat dura mater during exposure to noise and vibration

Department of Human Anatomy, Vladivostok Medical Institute. (Presented by Academician of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR O. S. Adrianov.) Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 111, No. 4, pp. 410–411, April, 1991.     

Effect of phytoadaptogens on biorhythms of hemostasis parameters in dogs

Department of Pathological Physiology, North-Ossetian Medical Institute, Vladikavkaz. Department of Biology, Medico-Biological Faculty, N. I. Pirogov Second Moscow Medical Institute. Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 113, No. 1, pp. 87–89, January, 1992.     

Synchronies between sleep and endocrine rhythms in man and their statistical evaluation.

(1) The transitions between wakefulness and sleep are periodic and quantifiable, and because they represent major changes in the functional activity of the CNS, they have been used as paradigms for the study of CNS influences on endocrine functioning. (2) Sleependocrine studies have shown that hormones are secreted in a pulsatile, episodic fashion, and many have prominent circadian and ultradian rhythms (e.g. adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), growth hormone (GH), prolactin (PRL), testosterone). (3) Some of these hormone rhythms are closely linked to the sleep-wake cycle (e.g. PRL) or to the specific stages of sleep (e.g. GH). (4) These findings suggest that ‘open loop’ mechanisms (CNS driving) are important in hormone regulation, in addition to ‘closed loop’ mechanisms (negative and positive feedback between hormones and the CNS). (5) The interaction of hormone rhythms may be important for their final metabolic effects. An example is the possible interrelation of three pituitary hormones, luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), and PRL, in stimulating the secretion of testosterone in adult men: Plasma LH has no circadian rhythm in adult men, whereas plasma PRL and plasma testosterone have similar circadian rhythms, with increasing levels occurring during sleep; plasma testosterone correlates as well with PRL at night as it does with LH. (6) The suggestion from these data that PRL may have a role in testosterone release is being studied by more specific experimental manipulations of the pituitary hormones. (7) The statistical analysis of hormone patterns over time has been inadequate in many studies: because the data comprise repeated measures on the same subjects and therefore are correlated, it is inappropriate to apply statistical tests designed for independent, uncorrelated measures, and some schemes for the analysis of repeated measures data are presented.     

Effect of Epithalamin on Circadian Relationship between the Endocrine Function of the Thymus and Melatonin-Producing Function of the Pineal Gland in Elderly People

The effect of epithalamin on circadian rhythms of thymic serum factor titers and melatonin concentrations in the blood of elderly people was studied. Course treatment with epithalamin modulated the rhythm of the thymic endocrine function. The increase in the titer of thymic serum factor at night coincided with the increase in blood melatonin concentration and shift of its acrophase to 3.00, which was characteristic of young people. In elderly people with preserved nocturnal peak of the thymic serum factor titer before therapy the nocturnal (3.00) concentration of melatonin was high and did not change after drug therapy. The correlation between melatonin concentration and titer of thymic serum factor increased after epithalamin treatment.     

Biological rhythms of the hemostasis system in dogs

Department of Pathological Physiology, North-Ossetian State Medical Institute, Ordzhonikidze. (Presented by Academician of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR A. D. Ado.) Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 111, No. 3, pp. 306–309, March, 1991.     

Evidence of a previously undescribed form of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) —the physiological manifestation of “cardiac aliasing”

Summary Within the fluctuations that occur in heart rate, there is a major component known as respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), which up to now has been defined as heart rate variability which is synchronous with respiratory movements. We have now discovered that RSA synchronous to respiratory movements is only one example of RSA. If a special relationship exists between mean heart rate (f_HR) and mean frequency of breathing (f_B) such that f_B>1/2 f_HR, RSA can be observed in a frequency range which is lower than the frequency of breathing. The mathematical fundamentals of this physiological phenomenon are the same as those for the aliasing-effect in signal sampling.Therefore, we have called this phenomenon cardiac aliasing. We have been able to experimentally demonstrate this, up to now unknown, phenomenon in adult rabbits and dogs as well as in human neonates.     

Circadian rhythms in the aged: a review

After a review of the fundamental concepts on chronobiology, the importance of circadian rhythms in the aged was examined on the basis of the data obtained in animals and humans, including personal observations on over 40 blood constituents. During ageing there are significant modifications of circadian rhythms, with frequent diminution of amplitude and a shift of acrophase. The biological, clinical and therapeutic implications of these findings are discussed.