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The Secretion and Effects of Melatonin in Humans

  • Chapter
Book cover The Pineal Gland and its Endocrine Role

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

Abstract

Although it has been well established for two decades that the human pineal gland produces and secretes melatonin, and although investigators began describing effects of exogenous melatonin on humans (principally on sleepiness and subjective vigor) soon after its discovery, relatively little information has been available until recently about the normal range of melatonin concentrations in human plasma and other body fluids, and even less about the effects of exogenous melatonin or its roles in human physiological processes.

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  1. Franz Waldhauser

    Present address: Univ. - Kinderklinik, Waehringer Guertel 74-76, A-1090, Wien 9, Austria

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Neuroendocrine Regulation Department of Nutrition and Food Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA

    Richard J. Wurtman

  2. Department of Psychology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA

    Harris R. Lieberman

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  1. Richard J. Wurtman
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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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Wurtman, R.J., Waldhauser, F., Lieberman, H.R. (1983). The Secretion and Effects of Melatonin in Humans. 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_29

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