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Differential Localization of Melatonin and N-Acetylserotonin in Brain

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The Pineal Gland and its Endocrine Role

Part of the book series: NATO Advanced Science Institutes Series ((NSSA,volume 65))

Abstract

Until 1974 quantitative and qualitative localization of melatonin (M) had been performed mainly by bioassay (Ralph and Lynch, 1970). As this technique is relatively insensitive, the detection of M outside of the pineal gland was infrequent (Pang et al. 1974). This led to the conclusion that the epiphysis cerebri was the unique source of M and its derivatives (Reiter, 1973). This firm opinion persisted for more than 15 years after the discovery of M in 1958 (Lerner et al. 1958) despite numerous reports of extrapineal detection of hydroxyindole-O-methyl transferase (HIOMT) the enzyme essential for M synthesis (Quay, 1965; Cardinali and Rosner, 1971a; Cardinali and Wurtman, 1972) as well as the demonstration of synthesis of melatonin in the retina (Gern et al. 1978, Pevet et al. 1980).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont., Canada

    G. M. Brown, O. Pulido, L. P. Niles, S. Psarakis & A. Porietis

  2. Department of Zoology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ont., Canada

    G. A. Bubenik

  3. Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester, Rochester, N.Y., 14624, USA

    L. J. Grota

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  1. G. M. Brown
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  2. O. Pulido
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  3. L. P. Niles
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  4. S. Psarakis
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  5. A. Porietis
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  6. G. A. Bubenik
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  7. L. J. Grota
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

    J. Axelrod

  2. University of Milan, Milan, Italy

    F. Fraschini

  3. University of Verona, Verona, Italy

    G. P. Velo

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Brown, G.M. et al. (1983). Differential Localization of Melatonin and N-Acetylserotonin in Brain. In: Axelrod, J., Fraschini, F., Velo, G.P. (eds) The Pineal Gland and its Endocrine Role. NATO Advanced Science Institutes Series, vol 65. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-1451-7_14

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