Melatonin as a chronobiotic

被引:416
作者
Arendt, J [1 ]
Skene, DJ [1 ]
机构
[1] Univ Surrey, Sch Biomed & Mol Sci, Ctr Chronobiol, Surrey GU2 7XH, England
基金
英国生物技术与生命科学研究理事会;
关键词
metatonin; circadian; rhythm; steep; phase shift;
D O I
10.1016/j.smrv.2004.05.002
中图分类号
R74 [神经病学与精神病学];
学科分类号
摘要
Melatonin, hormone of the pineal gland, is concerned with biological timing. It is secreted at night in all species and in ourselves is thereby associated with steep, lowered core body temperature, and other night time events. The period of melatonin secretion has been described as 'biological night'. Its main function in mammals is to 'transduce' information about the length of the night, for the organisation of daylength dependent changes, such as reproductive competence. Exogenous melatonin has acute sleepiness-inducing and temperature-lowering effects during 'biological daytime', and when suitably timed (it is most effective around dusk and dawn) it will shift the phase of the human circadian clock (sleep, endogenous melatonin, core body temperature, cortisol) to earlier (advance phase shift) or Later (delay phase shift) times. The shifts induced are sufficient to synchronise to 24 h most blind subjects suffering from non-24 h steep-wake disorder, with consequent benefits for steep. Successful use of melatonin's chronobiotic properties has been reported in other steep disorders associated with abnormal timing of the circadian system: jetlag, shiftwork, delayed steep phase syndrome, some steep problems of the elderly. No long-term safety data exist, and the optimum dose and formulation for any application remains to be clarified. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
引用
收藏
页码:25 / 39
页数:15
相关论文
共 73 条
[11]  
ARENDT J, 1983, INT MED, V3, P6
[12]   Sleep regulation: Relation to photoperiod, sleep duration, waking activity, and torpor [J].
Borbely, AA ;
Tobler, I .
HYPOTHALAMIC INTEGRATION OF CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS, 1996, 111 :343-348
[13]  
Brainard GC, 2001, J NEUROSCI, V21, P6405
[14]   BRIGHT LIGHT PHASE-SHIFTS THE HUMAN MELATONIN RHYTHM DURING THE ANTARCTIC WINTER [J].
BROADWAY, J ;
ARENDT, J ;
FOLKARD, S .
NEUROSCIENCE LETTERS, 1987, 79 (1-2) :185-189
[15]   Bright light, dark and melatonin can promote circadian adaptation in night shift workers [J].
Burgess, HJ ;
Sharkey, KM ;
Eastman, CI .
SLEEP MEDICINE REVIEWS, 2002, 6 (05) :407-420
[16]   Homeostatic versus circadian effects of melatonin on core body temperature in humans [J].
Cagnacci, A ;
Krauchi, K ;
WirzJustice, A ;
Volpe, A .
JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL RHYTHMS, 1997, 12 (06) :509-517
[17]  
CAMPBELL SS, 1993, SLEEP, V16, P638
[18]   Stability, precision, and near-24-hour period of the human circadian pacemaker [J].
Czeisler, CA ;
Duffy, JF ;
Shanahan, TL ;
Brown, EN ;
Mitchell, JF ;
Rimmer, DW ;
Ronda, JM ;
Silva, EJ ;
Allan, JS ;
Emens, JS ;
Dijk, DJ ;
Kronauer, RE .
SCIENCE, 1999, 284 (5423) :2177-2181
[19]   Evaluating the role of melatonin in the long-term treatment of delayed sleep phase syndrome (DSPS) [J].
Dagan, Y ;
Yovel, I ;
Hallis, D ;
Eisenstein, M ;
Raichik, I .
CHRONOBIOLOGY INTERNATIONAL, 1998, 15 (02) :181-190
[20]   DELAYED SLEEP PHASE SYNDROME RESPONSE TO MELATONIN [J].
DAHLITZ, M ;
ALVAREZ, B ;
VIGNAU, J ;
ENGLISH, J ;
ARENDT, J ;
PARKES, JD .
LANCET, 1991, 337 (8750) :1121-1124