INSULIN-LIKE GROWTH FACTOR-1 IN SYRIAN HAMSTERS : INTERACTIONS OF PHOTOPERIOD, GONADAL STEROIDS, PINEALECTOMY, AND CONTINUOUS MELATONIN TREATMENT

AbstractFour experiments in Syrian hamsters examined the role and possible interaction of photoperiod, gonadal steroids, and the pineal on circulating levels of insulinlike growth factor-1 (IGF-1). In the first experiment, female hamsters were exposed to long photoperiod (LP; 14:10 LD) or short photoperiod (SP; 8:16 LD); an additional group of SP-exposed females was pinealectomized (PX). SP induced a significant depression in IGF-1 concentrations which PX partially prevented. In Experiment 2, two groups (control and castrate [CX]) of adult male hamsters were kept in LP, and three groups (intact, CX, and CX + PX) of hamsters were kept in SP for five weeks. The four groups of animals that were CX and/or maintained in SP had approximately the same mean level of IGF-1, and all four groups were significantly (P < 0.001) higher than the LP-control hamsters. In Experiment 3, four groups (intact controls, CX, CX + melatonin pellet [MEL PEL], and MEL PEL only) were kept in LP. Melatonin pellets (1 mg melatonin/24 ...