Infradian Rhythm of the Content of Secretory Granules in Pinealocyte Cytoplasm in Mice and Rats.

The numerical density of secretory granules dense-core vesicles (DCV) in the cytoplasm of pinealocytes of the pineal gland was estimated by transmission electron microscopy in male white mice and Wistar rats. The 3-day biorhythm and lunaphase changes in the DCV content in the perikaryon and the processes of pinealocytes, which are manifested significantly in different seasons of the year, are established. The three-day biorhythm in adult male mice in comparison with younger male rats is not expressed uniformly in different phases of the moon. The in-phase manifestation of infradian biorhythms in different species of animals during the year with an unchanged daily photophase indicates the existence of common external synchronizers for mammals of these biorhythms that are not associated with the light/dark cycle.

Pineal gland as an endocrine gravitational lunasensor: manifestation of moon-phase dependent morphological changes in mice.

We found that some morphological properties of the pineal gland and submandibular salivary gland of mice are significantly distinct at the new and full moon. We suppose that the differences are initiated by the displacements of the electron-dense concretions in the secretory vesicles of pinealocytes. This presumably occurs under the influence of the gravitational field, which periodically changes during different phases of the moon. It seems that the pinealocyte is both an endocrine and gravisensory cell. A periodic secretion of the pineal gland probably stimulates, in a lunaphasic mode, the neuroendocrine system that, in turn, periodically exerts influence on different organs of the body. The observed effect probably serves, within the lifelong clock of a brain, to control development and aging in time.

Morphological changes in the pineal gland of rats under conditions of long-term exposure to bright light.

Changes in the diurnal light cycle affect the morphofunctional state of the pineal gland. The volume of the nucleus, Golgi apparatus, and mitochondria in pinealocytes decreases after 45-day exposure to bright light. After 90 days, the degree of nuclear polymorphism increased, the specific volume of the Golgi apparatus returned to normal, the volume of the granular endoplasmic reticulum decreased, while the volume of lysosomes, free ribosomes, and polysomes increased. These changes reflect plasticity of pinealocytes and adaptation of the gland to long-term 24-h light exposure.

Plasticity of secretory neurons in the supraoptic and paraventricular nuclei of the hypothalamus on exposure to light.

Light and electron microscopic methods were used to analyze changes in secretory neurons in the supraoptic (SON) and paraventricular (PVN) nuclei in the hypothalamus in 100 adult male rats at time points from the first minutes to 180 days after 48 hours of full-time exposure to bright light. At the early time points after exposure, the cellular formulae of the SON and PVN shifted towards functionally active neurons with minimal quantities of secretory granules, large nuclei and nucleoli, low RNA contents, small numbers of rough endoplasmic reticulum cisterns, vacuoles, and lysosomes in the perikarya. The number of cells depositing secretion was greater than in controls at 24 h in the SON and PVN and at 10 days in the SON. Normalization of the cellular formula and the structural organization of the protein-synthesizing apparatus of PVN neurons occurred at 10-30 days, with normalization in the SON at 30-180 days. These data provide evidence that the range of plasticity of neurons in the PVN on exposure to full-time bright light was more significant than that in the SON.