Smith-Magenis syndrome (SMS) is a clinically recognizable contiguous gene syndrome, caused by interstitial deletion of chromosome 17p11.2. The SMS phenotype include distinctive facial features, developmental delay and neurobehavioral abnormalities. The patients present major sleep disturbances ascribed to a phase shift of their circadian rhythm of melatonin with a paradoxical diurnal secretion ...

Cellular mechanisms underlying the primary circadian pacemaker in mammals were investigated by isolating rat suprachiasmatic nuclei in brain slices and maintaining them in vitro for up to 3 days. The circadian rhythm of neuronal firing rate was used to assess the phase of the pacemaker. This rhythm was rapidly reset by bath application of cAMP analogs. Moreover, the pacemaker demonstrated circa...

Delirium is associated with circadian rhythm disruption. In this study we have explored whether circadian variation of melatonin is an indicator for delirium. Melatonin levels were determined from the first day of hospitalization and up to three days after the onset of delirium. Patients who did not developed delirium exhibited a daily melatonin rhythm, while in patients that developed delirium...

OBJECTIVE The objective was to determine the circadian rhythm of melatonin in the Smith-Magenis syndrome (SMS), which causes behavioral problems and sleep disturbance. STUDY DESIGN Questionnaires, sleep consultations, and sleep diaries were obtained in 20 children with SMS (9 girls, 11 boys aged 4 to 17 years). Actigraphy, electroencephalography, and the circadian variations of plasma melaton...

In monkeys infected with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), changes in body temperature and locomotor activity occur after the acute retroviral syndrome stage of the disease. However, alterations to the circadian rhythm of these factors in SIV-infected monkeys have not been reported. To determine whether the circadian rhythm of body temperature and locomotor activity are disrupted during SIV ...

Using microdialysis, we investigated the circadian rhythms of the extracellular concentrations of dopamine, glutamate and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the striatum and nucleus accumbens of the awake rat. Wistar rats were maintained in a 12 hr dark:12 hr light (12:12) cycle for 2 wk before the experiment began. The neurotransmitter levels were measured every 30 min for 30 hr in control (mai...

Not all daily rhythms are circadian rhythms. The earth’s rotation exposes organisms to rhythmic changes in the environment, such as light/dark cycles. These environmental changes impose rhythms in organisms; however, many of these rhythms may not persist when in constant conditions. The 24-hour rhythms that do persist in these constant conditions are circadian rhythms. For a process to be defin...

Various organisms (microbes, plants, and mammals) have own circadian rhythm and an endogenous timekeeping. All organisms have approximately 24 hours periodic rhythm, although the mechanisms and factors for oscillation production are different [1]. Even in the same cell, the expression level of genes should be different and amount of the proteins should stochastically differ [3]. To keep the pre...

Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are multipotent cells present in adult bone marrow that replicate as undifferentiated cells and can differentiate to lineages of mesenchymal tissues. Homeostatic control of bone remodelling maintains bone mass by insuring that bone resorption and bone formation occur sequentially and in a balanced manner. As most homeostatic functions occur in a circadian manner...

As the mechanisms for learning and memory are elucidated, modulation of learning and memory becomes a central issue. We studied the modulation of learning and memory by investigating the circadian regulation of short- and long-term sensitization of the siphon withdrawal reflex in Aplysia. We found that Aplysia exhibited diurnal and circadian rhythms of long-term sensitization (LTS) with signifi...