Brief report: melatonin-related hypogonadotropic hypogonadism.

THE secretion of melatonin from the pineal gland is linked to the light–dark cycle, being greater at night in all species, including humans, and it is pulsatile.1 In humans the peak nocturnal plasma melatonin concentration declines progressively with age, being highest in infants and prepubertal children and lowest in elderly people. Melatonin profoundly influences reproductive function in seasonally breeding mammals. One such species is the Syrian hamster, in which pinealectomy leads to sustained reproductive activity and in which appropriately timed injections of melatonin inhibit reproductive function.2 It is less clear whether melatonin has regulatory actions on the reproductive system in . . .

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