大鼠胸腺降黑素受体的鉴定及生物学特性

应用放射配体结合法证实大鼠胸腺内存在降黑素特异结合部位，该结合位点可以满足特异结合部位的基本条件：１．低结合容量；２．高亲和力；３．可饱和性；４．可逆性；５．对降黑素高度特异性。此外，该特异结合位点具昼夜节律；亚细胞分布的研究表明以细胞核含量最高，线粒体次之，并具有年龄依赖性降低，以出生时最高。     

Rat self administration of ethanol: Enhancement by darkness and exogenous melatonin

Using an FT 60 schedule, rats on 100% free feeding tested in the dark phase of a 12:12 light-dark cycle were trained to self-administer ethanol intravenously. The effect was dose-dependent with 20% ethanol being the preferred dose as measured by the number of infusions. Daily administration of 1.5 mg/kg melatonin significantly increased ethanol self-injection in the dark but not in the light. The time of day of testing and/or drug administration may be an important variable in studies on self-administration of drugs. Testing in the dark may eliminate the need for reducing body weight when inducing self-administration of ethanol.     

Cyclosporine A-induced kidney alterations are limited by melatonin in rats: an electron microscope study

The effect of melatonin on experimental prolonged cyclosporine A (CsA) nephrotoxicity was analyzed by electron microscopy and morphometry. Twenty female Wistar rats were divided into groups that received (1) CsA at a therapeutic dose (15 mg/kg/day) sc for 40 days; (2) olive oil, CsA vehicle, as controls; (3) CsA plus melaton (1 mg/kg) ip for the same time; (4) melatonin alone, as additional controls. All controls had normal renal ultrastructure. However, in CsA group, both tubular and glomerular alterations were observed. The authors found apoptotic and necrotic proximal tubules with disrupted brush border, swollen mitochondria, abundant lysosomes; in the glomerulus, amorphous basement membrane, and abnormal mesangial matrix. CsA plus melatonin administration partly prevented these changes. Nevertheless, fibrillar deposits in podocytes and basolateral membrane dilatations in proximal tubules were observed. Histopathological analysis on semithin sections and ultrastructural morphometry were also performed. CsA induced interstitial fibrosis, atrophy, and PAS positive inclusions in the proximal tubules. Moreover, CsA reduced glomerular and mesangial volume but enhanced mesangial matrix volume and basement membrane thickness. After CsA plus melatonin, these parameters were reduced in the proximal tubules and restored in the glomerulus. In conclusion, melatonin attenuated morpho-quantitative alterations induced by CsA in the rat kidney.     

3-硝基酪氨酸在细菌内毒素诱导大鼠血管低反应性中的介导作用

目的：观察3-硝基酪氨酸（3-NT）对感染性休克大鼠血管低反应性的介导作用及抗氧化剂对此的治疗效果。 方法： 40只雄性SD大鼠随机分成空白对照组(n=10); LPS休克组（LPS 15 mg·kg-1 iv, n=10）; 尿酸(UA)治疗组（注射LPS 1 h后200 mg·kg-1 ip, n=10）; N-乙酰-5-甲氧基色胺（melatonin）治疗组（注射LPS 1 h后10 mg·kg-1 ip, n=10）。空白对照组及注射LPS 6 h后各组动物，静注去氧肾上腺素（PE, 0.5-2.5 μg·kg-1）,记录注药后MAP的增加百分比。所有in vivo实验结束后取大鼠胸主动脉环作张力实验,，建立PE的剂量-反应曲线并计算相应的Emax、EC50值。注射LPS 6 h后检测各组动物血浆丙二醛（MDA）、硝酸盐/亚硝酸盐（nitrate/nitrite）与3-NT的含量。 结果： 静脉注射PE后，休克组动物MAP的平均增长率与对照组相比显著降低至54.60%（P<0.01）；而UA组、melatonin组MAP对PE反应的增长率较之休克组分别增高了37.70%、40.03%(P<0.05)。休克组大鼠胸主动脉环对PE的反应［(Emax，35.30%±9.80%； EC50， (15.70±4.50)nmol/L］与对照组相比有显著差异［（Emax，100%； EC50， (4.71±2.04) nmol/L, P<0.05］，经UA、melatonin治疗后血管反应性有显著改善(P<0.05)。尿酸、N-乙酰-5-甲氧基色胺治疗组的血浆MDA、硝酸盐/亚硝酸盐和3-NT的浓度也明显低于休克组(P<0.05)。 结论： 3-NT是感染性休克血管低反应的重要介导因子，抗氧化剂通过清除氧自由基，减少脂质过氧化物的形成、抑制体内NO的过量合成及有效清除3-NT，从而改善α-肾上腺素能受体介导的血管低反应性，对临床感染性休克病人的治疗可能有积极作用。     

A multinational study of the relationships between nighttime urinary melatonin production, age, gender, body size, and latitude

Overnight urines were collected each month for 12–16 months from 321 normal subjects at 19 medical centers in 14 countries distributed on 5 continents at latitudes from 31 01 South to 77 00 North. Mean melatonin concentration was found to negatively correlate with age, weight, and height. When the sexes were considered separately melatonin only correlated with age for female and with age and weight for males. A weak correlation with latitude, but not longitude, was also found. Received: 26 February 1998 / Accepted: 9 September 1999     

Melatonin inhibits in vitro serotonergic phase shifts of the suprachiasmatic circadian clock

The suprachiasmatic (SCN) circadian pacemaker generates 24 h rhythms of spontaneous neuronal activity when isolated in an acute brain slice preparation. The isolated pacemaker also retains its capacity to be reset, or phase-shifted by exogenous stimuli. For example, serotonin (5-HT) agonists advance the SCN pacemaker when applied during mid subjective day, while neuropeptide Y (NPY) agonists and melatonin advance the pacemaker when applied during late subjective day. Previous work has demonstrated interactions between NPY and 5-HT agonists, such that NPY can block 5-HTergic phase advances, while 5-HT agonists do not prevent NPY-induced advances. Due to a number of similarities in the actions of melatonin and NPY in the SCN, it seemed possible that melatonin and 5-HT might interact in the SCN as well. Therefore, in this study potential interactions between melatonin and 5-HT agonists were explored. Melatonin inhibited phase advances by the 5-HT agonist, (+)DPAT, and this inhibition was decreased by co-application of tetrodotoxin. Conversely, melatonin was unable to block phase advances by the cyclic AMP analog, 8BA-cAMP. Finally, neither 5-HT agonists nor 8BA-AMP were able to block melatonin-induced phase advances. These results demonstrate a clear interaction between melatonin and 5-HT in the SCN, and suggest that melatonin and NPY may play similar roles with respect to modulating the phase of the SCN circadian pacemaker in rats.     

Ultrastructural confirmation of neuronal protection by melatonin against the neurotoxin 6-hydroxydopamine cell damage

6-Hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) is a neurotoxin used in the induction of experimental Parkinson's disease in both animals and cultured neuronal cells. Biochemical and molecular approaches showed previously that low doses of 6-OHDA induced apoptosis in PC12 cells, while high doses of this neurotoxin induced necrosis. Melatonin has been shown to protect against the neuronal programmed cell death induced by 6-OHDA, although it was not able to prevent the massive necrotic cellular death occurring after the addition of high doses of the neurotoxin. In the present work, we demonstrate by ultrastructural analysis that although low doses of 6-OHDA induced apoptosis in PC12 cells, it also damaged the non-apoptotic cells, morphologically corresponding this damage to incipient and reversible necrotic lesions. When the doses of the neurotoxin increase, there are still apoptotic cells, although most of the cells show necrotic irreversible lesions. We also found that melatonin partially prevents the incipient necrotic lesions caused by low doses of 6-OHDA. The fact that melatonin was shown in previous work to prevent apoptosis caused by low doses of 6-OHDA, but not necrosis induced by high doses of the neurotoxin, seemed to indicate that this agent is only able to protect against apoptosis. However, our present results, melatonin preventing also the incipient necrotic neuronal lesions, suggest that this hormone may provide a general protection against cell death, suggesting that higher doses should be tried in order to prevent the necrotic cell death induced by high doses of the neurotoxin.     

Evidence for direct vasoconstrictor activity of melatonin in “pressurized” segments of isolated caudal artery from juvenile rats

Summary Responses of isolated, 60 mmHg pressurized segments of the distal caudal artery of adult and juvenile Wistar rats to melatonin and the selective ₂-adrenoceptor agonist 5-bromo-6-[2-imidazolin-2-ylamino]-quinoxaline bitartrate (UK-14304) were examined using the Halpern pressure myograph. Melatonin showed no direct vasoconstrictor activity in vessels from adult rats, whereas UK-14304 produced moderate vasoconstriction (pD₂- 7.43+-0.09). In the presence of phenylephrine-induced tone, melatonin produced a variable but small constrictor response (< 10µm reduction in diameter) in some vessels; the response to 1 gmol/l UK-14304 was less than in the absence of tone. In vessels isolated from juvenile rats, melatonin caused concentration-dependent vasoconstriction with a maximum response about 70% of the maximum response elicited by UK-14304. Vessels from juvenile rats were more sensitive to melatonin(pD₂- 9.40+-0.07) than they were to UK-14304 (pD₂ -8.12+-0.14). In the presence of phenylephrine-induced tone, the vasoconstrictor responses to both melatonin and IK-14304 were markedly less; the sensitivity to melatonin was not different from that seen in the absence of tone. These findings indicate that pressurized segments of the isolated distal caudal artery may provide a simple and convenient, functional model of melatonin receptors. The findings also appear to implicate melatonin in thermoregulatory processes in juvenile rats. Send offprint requests to V. G. Wilson at the above address