Lack of pineal growth during childhood.

Schmidt, Ferdinand; Penka, B; Trauner, Michael; Reinsperger, L; Ranner, G.; Ebner, Franz; Waldhauser, Franz

doi:10.1210/jcem.80.4.7536203

Cited by 23 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…This is in line with the lack of association between the size of pineal calcification and pathologies. Secondly, there is no association between pineal size and age (Hasegawa et al 1987), which confirms the predominant, genetical determination of pineal size (Schmidt et al 1995;Bhatnagar 1990). Thirdly, there is a negative correlation between age and aMT6s (Sack et al 1986;Sharma et al 1989;Humbert and Pevet 1994;Zhdanova et al 1997;Waldhauser et al 1988;Myers and Badia 1995).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 75%

“…The adult shape and size of the pineal gland are, presumably genetically, determined early in life and reach their final stage around the first year of life (Wetterberg et al 1983;Schmidt et al 1995). The weight and dimensions are highly variable-up to a 20-fold inter-individual variance (Vollrath 1981;Hasegawa et al 1987;Bhatnagar 1990;Schmidt et al 1995).…”

Section: Even Though Exogenous Melatonin Has Proven To Influence Sleementioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is generally stated that no correlation can be demonstrated between the occurrence of pineal calcification and a reduced melatonin production (Arendt 1995). But, the two studies frequently cited in that context used predominantly skull X-ray, which provides only little information on the quantity of calcification-density and no information about the size of the remaining non-calcified tissue (Bojkowski and Arendt 1990; Commentz et al 1986).The adult shape and size of the pineal gland are, presumably genetically, determined early in life and reach their final stage around the first year of life (Wetterberg et al 1983;Schmidt et al 1995). The weight and dimensions are highly variable-up to a 20-fold inter-individual variance (Vollrath 1981;Hasegawa et al 1987;Bhatnagar 1990;Schmidt et al 1995).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The weight and dimensions are highly variable-up to a 20-fold inter-individual variance (Vollrath 1981;Hasegawa et al 1987;Bhatnagar 1990;Schmidt et al 1995). Therefore, the notion of an "average-size" is not adequate.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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A New Concept for Melatonin Deficit On Pineal Calcification and Melatonin Excretion

Kunz

1999

Neuropsychopharmacology

139

102

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Even though exogenous melatonin has proven to influence sleep and circadian parameters, low endogenous melatonin is not related to sleep disturbances, nor does it predict response to melatonin replacement therapy. In this manuscript, we present a new concept towards a definition of a melatonin deficit. The purpose of the study was to introduce a marker for an intra-individual decrease in melatonin production. Therefore, we developed a method to quantify the degree of pineal calcification (DOC) usingIn mammals, the circadian timing system has proven to be involved in the daily variation of almost any physiological and psychological variable evaluated so far (Weitzman et al. 1978;Wirz-Justice 1987;Johnson et al. 1992;Dijk and Czeisler 1995;Boivin et al. 1997). The rhythm of the circadian pacemaker comprised in the nuclei suprachiasmatici (SCN) becomes entrained to the environmental 24-hour rhythm, predominantly by two zeitgebers, light and melatonin (Dawson and Armstrong 1996).Melatonin influences the circadian phase in humans inversely compared to light. In particular, this drug delays circadian rhythms when administered in the morning and advances them when administered in the afternoon or early evening according to a phase response curve (PRC), which is nearly opposite in phase to the PRC's for light exposure (Lewy et al. 1992). Melatonin has proven to exert a chronobiotic mode of action (Dawson and Armstrong 1996) by its ability to facilitate the post-flight adaptation to jet-lag (Arendt et al. 1986), to phase advance the sleep of patients suffering from a phase-delay syndrome (Dahlitz et al. 1991;Tzischinsky et al. 1993), and to re-entrain the sleep-wake cycle of patients with a non-24-hour rhythm, such as in the blind, to the environmental light-dark cycle (Arendt et al. 1988;Lapierre and Dumont 1995;McArthur et al. 1996).However, in only one of the clinical studies (Haimov et al. 1995), in which exogenous melatonin proved usefulness, did low endogenous melatonin excretion predict response (Garfinkel et al. 1995;Hughes et al. 1998 Lushington et al. 1998;Youngstedt et al. 1998). Furthermore, normative data as to the amount of melatonin secretion demonstrate a huge inter-individual variability in humans (Dawson et al. 1992;Bergiannaki et al. 1995;Smith et al. 1997). Thus, existing normative data on melatonin excretion in a "healthy population" might only be considered normal in the sense that they are representative for the normal scatter. But since there is yet no pathology that can be attributed to either high or low melatonin levels, "normative" in this context may not necessarily indicate being healthy. The question arises, does a melatonin deficit or a hypopinealism exist at all?In a previously reported pilot-study we showed that the degree of pineal calcification (DOC) correlated positively to the incidence of chronic daytime tiredness as well as the subjective perception of sleep disturbances (Kunz et al. 1998). The basic assumption in that study was the hypothesis that an increasing degree of pineal c...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 75%

Section: Even Though Exogenous Melatonin Has Proven To Influence Sleementioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

A New Concept for Melatonin Deficit On Pineal Calcification and Melatonin Excretion

Kunz

1999

Neuropsychopharmacology

139

102

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…4 After a period of initial growth, the size of the pineal gland has been shown to remain stable beyond the first 1-2 years of life. [5][6][7] Knowledge of normal pineal gland size/volume is relevant in the evaluation of pineal region pathology. Pineal calcifications that would be considered benign in isolation are suspicious for neoplasia if there is concurrent glandular enlargement.…”

Section: Pineal Glandmentioning

confidence: 99%