More Alzheimer's disease Pineal & Toxic Mold

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Melatonin rhythmicity: effect of age and Alzheimer's disease.

Skene DJ, Swaab DF.

School of Biomedical and Life Sciences, University of Surrey,

Guildford GU2 7XH, UK. d.skene@...

The circadian rhythm of the pineal gland hormone, melatonin is

generated within the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN), site

of the circadian clock. The circadian clock and its output melatonin

rhythm is synchronized to the 24h day by environmental light which

is transmitted from the retina to the SCN primarily via the

retinohypothalamic tract. Changes in both the amplitude and timing

of the melatonin rhythm have been reported with aging in humans.

Whether these age-related changes (reduced melatonin amplitude,

earlier timing of melatonin rhythm) are a result of aging of the

retina, the SCN clock, the pineal gland, their neural connections or

a combination of some or all of these is not known. The fragmented

sleep/wake patterns observed in the elderly and to a greater extent

in patients with Alzheimer's disease have been shown to be partly

related to an altered retina-SCN-pineal axis. Therapies designed to

reinforce the circadian axis (for example, administration of

melatonin or light) have been reported to alleviate the disturbed

circadian rhythms and disrupted sleep. Future research needs to

pinpoint the site(s) of age-related dysfunction so that therapies

can be specifically tailored to correct the abnormality in addition

to reinforcing any of the intact processes.

PMID: 12543278 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?

cmd=Retrieve & db=PubMed & list_uids=12543278 & dopt=Abstract