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13 Results Found

  • Review
  • Open Access
111 Citations
12,962 Views
19 Pages

24 May 2013

Pineal gland melatonin is the darkness hormone, while extra-pineal melatonin produced by the gonads, gut, retina, and immune competent cells acts as a paracrine or autocrine mediator. The well-known immunomodulatory effect of melatonin is observed ei...

  • Systematic Review
  • Open Access
11 Citations
9,687 Views
30 Pages

29 September 2024

Introduction: According to current knowledge, at birth, the pineal gland and melatonin receptors are already present and the suprachiasmatic nucleus is largely functional, and noradrenaline, the key pineal transmitter, can be detected in the early fo...

  • Article
  • Open Access
2 Citations
3,318 Views
9 Pages

Morphology of the Human Pineal Gland Studied by Freeze-Fracturing in Scanning Electron Microscopy

  • Simona Polakovičová,
  • Ján Líška,
  • Ivan Varga and
  • Paulína Gálfiová

6 December 2024

The human pineal gland is the largest producer of the hormone melatonin. Pineal acervuli (brain sand), calcified concretions in the pineal gland, have long been studied because of their association with ageing, melatonin production, and neurological...

  • Article
  • Open Access
14 Citations
4,129 Views
16 Pages

3 October 2023

Concerns have been raised regarding the potential adverse health effects of the ubiquitous herbicide glyphosate. Here, we investigated long-term effects of developmental exposure to a glyphosate-based herbicide (GBH) by analyzing serum melatonin leve...

  • Review
  • Open Access
151 Citations
43,063 Views
29 Pages

Is Melatonin the Cornucopia of the 21st Century?

  • Nadia Ferlazzo,
  • Giulia Andolina,
  • Attilio Cannata,
  • Maria Giovanna Costanzo,
  • Valentina Rizzo,
  • Monica Currò,
  • Riccardo Ientile and
  • Daniela Caccamo

5 November 2020

Melatonin, an indoleamine hormone produced and secreted at night by pinealocytes and extra-pineal cells, plays an important role in timing circadian rhythms (24-h internal clock) and regulating the sleep/wake cycle in humans. However, in recent years...

  • Review
  • Open Access
18 Citations
8,067 Views
31 Pages

19 November 2020

In the mammalian cochlea, specialized ribbon-type synapses between sensory inner hair cells (IHCs) and postsynaptic spiral ganglion neurons ensure the temporal precision and indefatigability of synaptic sound encoding. These high-through-put synapses...

  • Review
  • Open Access
20 Citations
6,279 Views
15 Pages

Smith-Magenis Syndrome: Molecular Basis of a Genetic-Driven Melatonin Circadian Secretion Disorder

  • Alice Poisson,
  • Alain Nicolas,
  • Idriss Bousquet,
  • Véronique Raverot,
  • Claude Gronfier and
  • Caroline Demily

Smith-Magenis syndrome (SMS), linked to Retinoic Acid Induced (RAI1) haploinsufficiency, is a unique model of the inversion of circadian melatonin secretion. In this regard, this model is a formidable approach to better understand circadian melatonin...

  • Article
  • Open Access
28 Citations
5,749 Views
13 Pages

β-Adrenoceptors Trigger Melatonin Synthesis in Phagocytes

  • Marco A. Pires-Lapa,
  • Claudia E. Carvalho-Sousa,
  • Erika Cecon,
  • Pedro A. Fernandes and
  • Regina P. Markus

Melatonin (5-methoxy-N-acetylserotonin), the pineal hormone, is also synthesized by immune-competent cells. The pineal hormone signals darkness, while melatonin synthesized on demand by activated macrophages at any hour of the day acts locally, favor...

  • Review
  • Open Access
11 Citations
6,899 Views
12 Pages

17 November 2017

Sleep disruption is a prevalent clinical feature in many neurodegenerative disorders, including human prion diseases where it can be the defining dysfunction, as in the case of the “eponymous” fatal familial insomnia, or an early-stage symptom as in...

  • Article
  • Open Access
373 Views
17 Pages

28 November 2025

The pineal gland is a key component of the avian circadian system, responsible for melatonin (MLT) secretion that reflects and regulates daily rhythmicity. While the post-hatching turkey is known for its highly sensitive and efficient pineal system,...

  • Article
  • Open Access
3 Citations
2,705 Views
20 Pages

Sleep and Arousal Hubs and Ferromagnetic Ultrafine Particulate Matter and Nanoparticle Motion Under Electromagnetic Fields: Neurodegeneration, Sleep Disorders, Orexinergic Neurons, and Air Pollution in Young Urbanites

  • Lilian Calderón-Garcidueñas,
  • Fredy Rubén Cejudo-Ruiz,
  • Elijah W. Stommel,
  • Angélica González-Maciel,
  • Rafael Reynoso-Robles,
  • Héctor G. Silva-Pereyra,
  • Beatriz E. Pérez-Guille,
  • Rosa Eugenia Soriano-Rosales and
  • Ricardo Torres-Jardón

8 April 2025

Air pollution plays a key role in sleep disorders and neurodegeneration. Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), and/or transactive response DNA-binding protein TDP-43 neuropathology have been documented in children and young...

  • Article
  • Open Access
15 Citations
3,570 Views
19 Pages

17 August 2019

The regulation of melatonin secretion in the avian pineal organ is highly complex and shows prominent interspecies differences. The aim of this study was to determine the roles of direct photoreception and the internal oscillator in the regulation of...

  • Article
  • Open Access
18 Citations
8,350 Views
13 Pages

Age-Related Changes of the Pineal Gland in Humans: A Digital Anatomo-Histological Morphometric Study on Autopsy Cases with Comparison to Predigital-Era Studies

  • Bogdan-Alexandru Gheban,
  • Horațiu Alexandru Colosi,
  • Ioana-Andreea Gheban-Rosca,
  • Bogdan Pop,
  • Ana-Maria Teodora Domșa,
  • Carmen Georgiu,
  • Dan Gheban,
  • Doinița Crișan and
  • Maria Crișan

15 April 2021

Background and objectives: The pineal gland is a photoneuroendocrine organ in the midline of the brain, responsible primarily for melatonin synthesis. It is composed mainly of pinealocytes and glial tissue. This study examined human postmortem pineal...