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The purpose of this study was to test the influence of various irradiances of cool white fluorescent light on the suppression of pineal N-acetyltransferase activity (NAT) and melatonin content in hamsters. Groups of animals were exposed to light irradiances ranging from 0.00-1.86 microwatts (microW)/cm2 for 20 min during the night. Both pineal NAT and melatonin were similarly depressed by the light irradiances in a dose-related manner. The shape of the resultant dose-response curves and the calculated ED50 for NAT (0.066 microW/cm2) and melatonin (0.058 microW/cm2) were remarkably similar. These findings may be relevant to the physiological control of the pineal by natural illumination.

The purpose of the present studies using artificial light was to determine how the timing and duration of exposure influence the light-induced suppression of pineal melatonin levels in hamsters. An 8-min exposure to 0.186 microW/cm2 of cool white fluorescent light caused a continued depression of pineal melatonin even when animals were returned to darkness. In addition, the pineal gland does not appear to change its sensitivity to light throughout the night. A 20-min exposure to 0.019 microW/cm2 of cool white fluorescent light did not significantly suppress pineal melatonin during any time of the melatonin peak, whereas a 20-min exposure to 0.186 microW/cm2 was capable of always suppressing melatonin. Furthermore, increasing the duration of 0.019-microW/cm2 exposure to 30, 60, 120, or 180 min does not increase the capacity of this irradiance to depress melatonin. Similar to artifical light, natural light has a variable capacity for suppressing nocturnal levels of pineal melatonin. Twilight irradiances of 0.138 microW/cm2 or less did not suppress nocturnal melatonin whereas twilight irradiances of 3.0 microW/cm2 or greater did suppress pineal melatonin. A few animals did have lower melatonin after a 40-min exposure to full moonlight during July (0.045 microW/cm2) or January (0.240 microW/cm2). However, pineal melatonin levels remained high in the majority of animals exposed to full moonlight.

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