nowadays immunochemical techniques have played a very important and valuable role in quantitative and qualitative assays of liquid compounds of the body. producing antibody against immunogenes is the first step to make immunochemical kits. in this study production and purification of polyclonal antibody against melatonin has been considered. this hormone which has several important functions in...

The pineal gland in ma.i is an active endocrine gland throughout life (Wurtman et al., 1964 ; Tapp & Huxley, 1972 ; Cardinali, 1974 ; Reiter et al., 1975 ; Reiter, 1978). It elaborates several hormones with precise rhythmicity. The chronobiological aspects of the mammalian pineal gland have been clearly brought out by Reiler (198!) defining the circadian rhythms in indole metabolism within the ...

The light microscopical morphology of the dog pineal gland from the first postnatal day to maturity is described. In the first postnatal week, the pineal parenchyma shows immature cells and many mitotic figures. In this week, pigmented cells are observed for the first time, both in the pineal gland and in extrapineal nodules. Throughout the second week, the pineal parenchyma shows a cordonal pa...

BACKGROUND The majority of patients with schizophrenia and mood disorders have disruptions in sleep and circadian rhythm. Melatonin, which is secreted by the human pineal gland, plays an important role in sleep and circadian rhythm. The aim of the present study was to evaluate and compare pineal gland volumes in patients with schizophrenia and mood disorders. SUBJECTS AND METHODS We retrospec...

Pineal gland is a very important neuroendocrine organ with many physiological functions such as regulating circadian rhythm. Radiologically, the pineal gland volume is clinically important because it is usually difficult to distinguish small pineal tumors via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Although many studies have estimated the pineal gland volume using different techniques, to the best of...

Exposure to light reduces the ability of the rat pineal gland to synthesize melatonin and decreases the weight of the gland. When the sympathetic nerves to the pineal gland are cut, light no longer has an effect on melatonin synthesis or pineal weight. The response of the gland does not require that the gonads or the pituitary gland be present.

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to evaluate the morphologic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) characteristics of the pineal gland in retinoblastoma (Rb) patients without and with pineoblastoma in comparison to age-matched controls to improve early identification of pineoblastomas (trilateral retinoblastoma, TRb). METHODS AND MATERIALS 80 patients with retinoblastoma and 80 age-matched co...

Using high performance liquid chromatography, the level of retinoids was determined in the bovine pineal gland, retina, retinal pigment epithelium, cortical and subcortical brain tissues, skeletal muscle and the liver. Except the retina, the bovine pineal gland possesses levels of retinol and retinyl esters significantly higher than other brain tissues and muscle. However, unlike the retina, th...