A microdialysis study on pineal melatonin rhythms in rats after an 8 h phase advance: new characteristics of the underlying pacemaker

Abstract This study describes the use of the microdialysis technique to elucidate specific properties of the circadian pacemaking system in the hypothalamus, by measurement of melatonin production in the pineal gland. Melatonin has appeared to be a reliable marker of the pacemaker activity, which is influenced by the light/dark cycle. A phase shift in the light/dark cycle was applied to perturb the rhythm generating system. An 8 h phase advance resulted in the disappearance of melatonin production over two days, with basal levels comparable to normal daytime levels. In the subsequent return of rhythmic melatonin production, new clock characteristics could be revealed, due to the high time-resolution measurements of microdialysis. While half of the animals still did not show any rhythmicity, the other half of the animals regained rhythmicity with entrained onset of melatonin production, while the offset was variable and not stably entrained to lights on. Ten days after the shift, the system had completely recovered and all animals regained normal rhythmicity, in phase with the new light/dark cycle. The results are interpreted in terms of the two-oscillator model, with one oscillator reacting with a phase advance and the other with a phase delay to adapt to the phase shift.