Quantal melatonin suppression by exposure to low intensity light in man.

Plasma melatonin concentrations were examined following three relatively low intensities of artificial light. Six normal, healthy control subjects were all exposed to (a) 200 lux, (b) 400 lux and (c) 600 lux for a three hour duration from midnight to 0300 h. Blood was also collected on a control night where light intensity was less than 10 lux throughout. Significant suppression of melatonin was observed following light of 400 lux and 600 lux intensity when compared to the control night (p less than 0.05; Mann-Whitney U-test). 200 lux light did not produce a statistically significant melatonin suppression when compared with control samples. Each light intensity produced its own individual maximal melatonin suppression by one hour of exposure. Increased duration of exposure to the light had no further influence on melatonin plasma concentrations. These data confirm a dose response relationship between light and melatonin suppression, and indicate that there is no reciprocal relationship between the effects of light intensity and the duration of exposure on maximal melatonin suppression in man.

[1]  R. Wyatt,et al.  Photic regulation of the melatonin rhythm: monkey and man are not the same , 1980, Brain Research.

[2]  R. Reiter.  Comparative physiology: pineal gland. , 1973, Annual review of physiology.

[3]  M. Rollag,et al.  Radioimmunoassay of serum concentrations of melatonin in sheep exposed to different lighting regimens. , 1976, Endocrinology.

[4]  R. Reiter,et al.  Photoreceptor damage and eye pigmentation: influence on the sensitivity of rat pineal N-acetyltransferase activity and melatonin levels to light at night. , 1985, Neuroendocrinology.

[5]  D A Newsome,et al.  Light suppresses melatonin secretion in humans. , 1980, Science.

[6]  R. Post,et al.  Entrainment of rhythmic melatonin secretion in man to a 12-hour phase shift in the light/dark cycle. , 1978, Life sciences.

[7]  J. Nurnberger,et al.  Supersensitivity to light: possible trait marker for manic-depressive illness. , 1985, The American journal of psychiatry.

[8]  S. Koslow,et al.  Nocturnal elevation of plasma melatonin and urinary 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid in young men: attempts at modification by brief changes in environmental lighting and sleep and by autonomic drugs. , 1976, The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism.

[9]  Torbjörn Åkerstedt,et al.  Melatonin excretion, body temperature and subjective arousal during 64 hours of sleep deprivation , 1979, Psychoneuroendocrinology.

[10]  R. Wurtman,et al.  Melatonin in rat pineal, plasma, and urine: 24-hour rhythmicity and effect of chlorpromazine. , 1976, Endocrinology.

[11]  M. Rollag,et al.  Melatonin: daily cycle in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid of calves. , 1977, Science.

[12]  R. Reiter.  Action Spectra, Dose‐Response Relationships, and Temporal Aspects of Light's Effects on the Pineal Gland , 1985, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

[13]  G. Vaughan,et al.  Nocturnal plasma melatonin in humans: Episodic pattern and influence of light , 1979, Neuroscience Letters.

[14]  D. Kennaway,et al.  A specific radioimmunoassay for melatonin in biological tissue and fluids and its validation by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. , 1977, Endocrinology.

[15]  G. Brainard,et al.  The Influence of Various Irradiances of Artificial Light, Twilight, and Moonlight on the Suppression of Pineal Melatonin Content in the Syrian Hamster , 1984, Journal of pineal research.

[16]  Iain M McIntyre,et al.  Plasma Melatonin Concentrations in Depression , 1986, The Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry.

[17]  Iain M McIntyre,et al.  Human Melatonin Suppression by Light is Intensity Dependent , 1989, Journal of pineal research.

[18]  D. Skene,et al.  Suppression of Nocturnal Plasma Melatonin and 6-Sulphatoxymelatonin by Bright and Dim Light in Man , 1987, Hormone and metabolic research = Hormon- und Stoffwechselforschung = Hormones et metabolisme.

[19]  Richard G. Weleber,et al.  Dose-response relationship between light irradiance and the suppression of plasma melatonin in human volunteers , 1988, Brain Research.

[20]  S. Reppert,et al.  The effects of environmental lighting on the daily melatonin rhythm in primate cerebrospinal fluid , 1981, Brain Research.

[21]  D. Klein,et al.  Visual pathways and the central neural control of a circadian rhythm in pineal serotonin N-acetyltransferase activity. , 1974, Brain research.

[22]  R. Wurtman,et al.  Relationship between environmental light intensity and retina-mediated suppression of rat pineal serotonin-N-acetyl-transferase. , 1974, Life sciences.

[23]  P. Cowen,et al.  Direct radioimmunoassay for melatonin in plasma. , 1983, Clinical chemistry.

[24]  H. Illnerová,et al.  Response of rat pineal serotonin N-acetyltransferase to one min light pulse at different night times , 1979, Brain Research.

[25]  S. Reppert,et al.  Daily rhythms in cortisol and melatonin in primate cerebrospinal fluid. Effects of constant light and dark. , 1981, Neuroendocrinology.