Gonadal hormones organize and modulate the circadian system of the rat

1981 ◽  
Vol 241 (1) ◽  
pp. R62-R66 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. E. Albers
Keyword(s):  
Testosterone Propionate ◽  
Wheel Running ◽  
Activity Rhythm ◽  
Gonadal Hormones ◽  
Circadian System ◽  
Female Rats ◽  
Constant Darkness ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Free Running ◽  
Free Running Period

The circadian wheel-running rhythms of gonadectomized adult male, female, and perinatally androgenized female rats, maintained in constant darkness, were examined before and after implantation of Silastic capsules containing cholesterol (C) or estradiol-17 beta (E). The free-running period of the activity rhythm (tau) before capsule implantation tended to be shorter in animals exposed to perinatal androgen. Administration of C did not reliably alter tau in any group. E significantly shortened tau in 100% of females injected with oil on day 3 of life. In females, injected with 3.5 micrograms testosterone propionate on day 3, and males, E shortened or lengthened tau, with the direction and magnitude of this change in tau inversely related to the length of the individual's pretreatment tau. These data indicate that the presence of perinatal androgen does not eliminate the sensitivity of the circadian system of the rat to estrogen, since estrogen alters tau in a manner that depends on its pretreatment length.

Sex differentiation of t-e circadian system in the golden hamster

1980 ◽  
Vol 238 (1) ◽  
pp. R97-R101 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Zucker ◽  
K. M. Fitzgerald ◽  
L. P. Morin
Keyword(s):  
Testosterone Propionate ◽  
Wheel Running ◽  
Activity Rhythm ◽  
Sex Differentiation ◽  
Estradiol Benzoate ◽  
Circadian System ◽  
Normal Male ◽  
Circadian Activity ◽  
Neural Connections ◽  
Free Running

The effect of estradiol benzoate (EB) on free-running circadian activity rhythms was studied in gonadectomized hamsters maintained in constant dim illumination. EB shortened the period (tau) of the female, but not of the male circadian activity rhythm. Responsiveness of the circadian system to EB was subject to sexual differentiation. The circadian period of wheel running by female hamsters given a single injection of testosterone propionate on the day of birth did not shorten in response to EB in adulthood. This failure to respond to EB also was observed in normal male hamsters, and was different from the response shown by normal females. Preliminary data suggest that tau of the activity rhythm of males castrated on the day of birth is shortened during EB treatment in adulthood. The differential effects of estradiol on tau are related to anatomic differences between the sexes in neural connections of the substrate for circadian rhythms.

Disrupted circadian rhythms in VIP- and PHI-deficient mice

2003 ◽  
Vol 285 (5) ◽  
pp. R939-R949 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher S. Colwell ◽  
Stephan Michel ◽  
Jason Itri ◽  
Williams Rodriguez ◽  
J. Tam ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Circadian Rhythms ◽  
Wheel Running ◽  
Activity Rhythm ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Circadian System ◽  
Diurnal Rhythms ◽  
Constant Darkness ◽  
Light Cycle ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Deficient Mice

The related neuropeptides vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) and peptide histidine isoleucine (PHI) are expressed at high levels in the neurons of the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), but their function in the regulation of circadian rhythms is unknown. To study the role of these peptides on the circadian system in vivo, a new mouse model was developed in which both VIP and PHI genes were disrupted by homologous recombination. In a light-dark cycle, these mice exhibited diurnal rhythms in activity which were largely indistinguishable from wild-type controls. In constant darkness, the VIP/PHI-deficient mice exhibited pronounced abnormalities in their circadian system. The activity patterns started ∼8 h earlier than predicted by the previous light cycle. In addition, lack of VIP/PHI led to a shortened free-running period and a loss of the coherence and precision of the circadian locomotor activity rhythm. In about one-quarter of VIP/PHI mice examined, the wheel-running rhythm became arrhythmic after several weeks in constant darkness. Another striking example of these deficits is seen in the split-activity patterns expressed by the mutant mice when they were exposed to a skeleton photoperiod. In addition, the VIP/PHI-deficient mice exhibited deficits in the response of their circadian system to light. Electrophysiological analysis indicates that VIP enhances inhibitory synaptic transmission within the SCN of wild-type and VIP/PHI-deficient mice. Together, the observations suggest that VIP/PHI peptides are critically involved in both the generation of circadian oscillations as well as the normal synchronization of these rhythms to light.

Melatonin administration entrains female rat activity rhythms in constant darkness but not in constant light

1988 ◽  
Vol 255 (2) ◽  
pp. R237-R242
Author(s):  
E. M. Thomas ◽  
S. M. Armstrong
Keyword(s):  
Estrous Cycle ◽  
Activity Rhythm ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Circadian System ◽  
Female Rats ◽  
Male Rats ◽  
Constant Darkness ◽  
Female Rat ◽  
Continuous Darkness ◽  
Activity Rhythms

In female rats the luteinizing hormone (LH) is timed by the circadian system and is followed by a display of intense, estrogen-induced running behavior. This proestrous running on the night of ovulation can be used as a marker of the estrous cycle. Entrainment of the mammalian circadian system by exogenous melatonin (MT) has been demonstrated only in the activity rhythms of male rats. The present experiments were designed to study the effect of daily MT injections on activity rhythms and proestrous running of female rats in 1) continuous dim white light (LL) and 2) continuous darkness (DD). In LL, MT injections (50 micrograms/kg or 1 mg/kg) had no discernible effect on activity rhythms. In DD, four of the six MT-treated rats (100 micrograms/kg) entrained to the injection, and a fifth animal showed phase advances in its activity rhythm when onset of activity passed through injection time. The sixth animal was not injected with MT at activity onset time. None of the six control animals showed either effect. MT had no effect on the length of the estrous cycle. Thus MT injections can entrain circadian rhythms of activity and proestrous running in female rats in DD but not in LL.

Failure of pinealectomy or melatonin to alter circadian activity rhythm of the rat

1982 ◽  
Vol 242 (3) ◽  
pp. R261-R264 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. W. Cheung ◽  
C. E. McCormack
Keyword(s):  
Wheel Running ◽  
Activity Rhythm ◽  
Physiological Mechanism ◽  
Continuous Darkness ◽  
Running Activity ◽  
Melatonin Administration ◽  
Wheel Running Activity ◽  
Free Running ◽  
Dim Light ◽  
Free Running Period

These experiments were undertaken to determine if the pineal gland is involved in the physiological mechanism by which the rat alters its free-running period (tau) in response to changes in illuminance. Spontaneous wheel-running activity was recorded from pinealectomized or sham-operated female Charles River rats. The tau of running activity was determined in continuous darkness (DD) or in continuous dim light (LL). Pinealectomized rats and sham-operated rats lengthened their tau's to approximately the same extent when shifted from DD to LL and shortened their tau's when shifted back to DD. Continuous melatonin administration via Silastic capsules failed to alter tau of rats kept in dim LL. These results indicate that the pineal is not primarily involved in the mechanism by which the rat alters tau in response to changes in illuminance.

scholarly journals Inducible Knockout of Mouse Zfhx3 Emphasizes Its Key Role in Setting the Pace and Amplitude of the Adult Circadian Clock

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 433-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashleigh G. Wilcox ◽  
Lucie Vizor ◽  
Michael J. Parsons ◽  
Gareth Banks ◽  
Patrick M. Nolan
Keyword(s):  
Wheel Running ◽  
Circadian System ◽  
Tamoxifen Treatment ◽  
Constant Darkness ◽  
Central Nervous System Function ◽  
Dark Cycle ◽  
Phenotypic Changes ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Nervous System Function ◽  
Circadian Behavior

The transcription factor zinc finger homeobox 3 (ZFHX3) plays a key role in coupling intracellular transcriptional-translational oscillations with intercellular synchrony in mouse suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). However, like many key players in central nervous system function, ZFHX3 serves an important role in neurulation and neuronal terminal differentiation while retaining discrete additional functions in the adult SCN. Recently, using a dominant missense mutation in mouse Zfhx3, we established that this gene can modify circadian period and sleep in adult animals. Nevertheless, we were still concerned that the neurodevelopmental consequences of ZFHX3 dysfunction in this mutant may interfere with, or confound, its critical adult-specific roles in SCN circadian function. To circumvent the developmental consequences of Zfhx3 deletion, we crossed a conditional null Zfhx3 mutant to an inducible, ubiquitously expressed Cre line (B6.Cg-Tg(UBC-cre/ERT2)1Ejb/J). This enabled us to assess circadian behavior in the same adult animals both before and after Cre-mediated excision of the critical Zfhx3 exons using tamoxifen treatment. Remarkably, we found a strong and significant alteration in circadian behavior in tamoxifen-treated homozygous animals with no phenotypic changes in heterozygous or control animals. Cre-mediated excision of Zfhx3 critical exons in adult animals resulted in shortening of the period of wheel-running in constant darkness by more than 1 h in the majority of homozygotes while, in 30% of animals, excision resulted in complete behavioral arrhythmicity. In addition, we found that homozygous animals reentrain almost immediately to 6-h phase advances in the light-dark cycle. No additional overt phenotypic changes were evident in treated homozygous animals. These findings confirm a sustained and significant role for ZFHX3 in maintaining rhythmicity in the adult mammalian circadian system.

scholarly journals Coupling effect of locomotor activity on the rat’s circadian system

1998 ◽  
Vol 275 (2) ◽  
pp. R580-R587 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro Lax ◽  
Salvador Zamora ◽  
Juan A. Madrid
Keyword(s):  
Locomotor Activity ◽  
Wheel Running ◽  
Coupling Effect ◽  
Red Light ◽  
Bright Light ◽  
Circadian System ◽  
Circadian Rhythmicity ◽  
Lighting Conditions ◽  
Free Running ◽  
Free Running Period

Exercise is recognized to affect circadian rhythmicity in a variety of ways. It masks the expression of other behavioral and physiological rhythms, entrains the master pacemaker, and influences the free-running period of other rhythms. In this paper we study the influence of exercise on the organization of the timing system by analyzing the effect of voluntary locomotor activity on the circadian feeding behavior of rats subjected to different lighting conditions. The availability of wheel running prevented loss of feeding circadian rhythmicity under constant bright light (LL) but did not elicit any circadian pattern in rats showing a previous arrhythmic pattern. Under dim red light (DR), the rhythm was more pronounced in exercising than in sedentary rats, while wheel-running availability accelerated the emergence of circadian rhythmicity in arrhythmic animals that were moved from LL to DR. These results can be explained by the existence of a positive feedback loop between physical exercise and its pacemaker and also suggest that exercise changes the functioning of the circadian system to facilitate the emergence of circadian rhythms in previously arrhythmic animals.

Effects of aging on entrainment and rate of resynchronization of circadian locomotor activity

1992 ◽  
Vol 263 (5) ◽  
pp. R1099-R1103 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. C. Zee ◽  
R. S. Rosenberg ◽  
F. W. Turek
Keyword(s):  
Circadian Rhythm ◽  
Locomotor Activity ◽  
Activity Rhythm ◽  
Phase Advance ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Free Running ◽  
Effects Of Aging ◽  
Free Running Period ◽  
Related Phase

The phase angle of entrainment of the circadian rhythm of the locomotor activity rhythm to a light-dark (LD) cycle was examined in young (2-5 mo old) and middle-aged (13-16 mo old) hamsters. An age-related phase advance in the onset of locomotor activity relative to lights off was seen during stable entrainment to a 14:10-h LD cycle. In addition, the effects of age on the rate of reentrainment of the circadian rhythm of locomotor activity were examined by subjecting young and middle-aged hamsters to either an 8-h advance or delay shift of the LD cycle. Middle-aged hamsters resynchronized more rapidly after a phase advance of the LD cycle than did young hamsters, whereas young hamsters were able to phase delay more rapidly than middle-aged hamsters. The age-related phase advance of activity onset under entrained conditions, and the alteration of responses in middle-aged hamsters reentraining to a phase-shifted LD cycle, may be due to the shortening of the free-running period of the circadian rhythm of locomotor activity with advancing age that has previously been observed in this species.

Organization of rat circadian rhythms during daily infusion of melatonin or S20098, a melatonin agonist

1999 ◽  
Vol 277 (3) ◽  
pp. R812-R828 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Pitrosky ◽  
R. Kirsch ◽  
A. Malan ◽  
E. Mocaer ◽  
P. Pevet
Keyword(s):  
Body Temperature ◽  
Circadian Rhythms ◽  
Phase Response Curve ◽  
Constant Darkness ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
General Activity ◽  
Activity Peak ◽  
Free Running ◽  
Wheel Activity ◽  
Free Running Period

Daily administration of melatonin or S20098, a melatonin agonist, is known to entrain the free-running circadian rhythms of rats. The effects of the duration of administration on entrainment were studied. The animals demonstrated free-running circadian rhythms (running-wheel activity, body temperature, general activity) in constant darkness. Daily infusions of melatonin or S20098 for 1, 8, or 16 h entrained the circadian rhythms to 24 h. Two daily infusions of 1 h (separated by 8 h) entrained the activity peak within the shorter time interval. The entraining properties of melatonin and S20098 were similar and were affected neither by pinealectomy nor by infusion of 1- or 8-h duration. However, with 16-h infusion, less than half of the animals became entrained. Once entrained, the phase angle between the onset of infusion and the rhythms (onset of activity or acrophase of body temperature) increased with the duration of infusion. Before entrainment, the free-running period increased with the duration of infusion, an effect that was not predictable from the phase response curve.

Circadian and estrous cycle-dependent variations in blood pressure and heart rate in female rats

1994 ◽  
Vol 267 (5) ◽  
pp. R1250-R1256 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Takezawa ◽  
H. Hayashi ◽  
H. Sano ◽  
H. Saito ◽  
S. Ebihara
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Estrous Cycle ◽  
Female Rats ◽  
Constant Darkness ◽  
Dark Phase ◽  
Daily Rhythms ◽  
Abrupt Decrease ◽  
Internal Phase ◽  
Free Running ◽  
Cycle Dependent

To determine whether cardiovascular functions are controlled by the endogenous circadian system and whether they change with the estrous cycle in female rats, we measured mean arterial pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR), and spontaneous activity (ACT) of female rats using an implantable radiotelemetry device and a computerized data-collecting system. Under a 12:12-h light-dark (LD) cycle, these parameters exhibited daily rhythms that were entrained to the photic cycle. The patterns of the daily rhythms varied with estrous cycles, and variations were particularly marked in the proestrous stage. During the dark period of this stage, ACT levels were significantly higher, but HR was significantly lower than in other stages. Although the peak MAP occurred within 2 h after the onset of the dark phase in three of the estrous stages, it occurred around midnight in the proestrous stage. Such estrous cycle-dependent variations were eliminated by ovariectomy. The implantation of 17 beta-estradiol produced a gradual increase in MAP and an abrupt decrease in HR. During constant darkness, all three parameters were free running, maintaining the same internal phase relationships with each other as during LD cycles. These results indicate that daily variations in these parameters were controlled by the endogenous circadian oscillating system, that they vary with the estrous cycle in female rats, and that estrogen may be responsible for these estrous cycle-dependent variations.

Variation in the naturally occurring rhythm of the estuarine amphipod, Corophium volutator (Pallas)

1983 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 833-850 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter F. Holmström ◽  
Elfed Morgan
Keyword(s):  
Activity Rhythm ◽  
Time Lapse ◽  
Early Summer ◽  
Corophium Volutator ◽  
Use Of Time ◽  
Recording Conditions ◽  
Free Running ◽  
Endogenous Activity ◽  
Free Running Period ◽  
Time Lapse Photography

The endogenous activity rhythm of the estuarine amphipod Corophium volutator has been studied by direct observation and with the use of time lapse photography. The rhythm persists under constant conditions having a free running period of between 12 and 13 h, and with activity maxima occurring during the early ebb. Freshly collected animals show a rhythm which is modulated on a semi-lunar basis, the activity maxima being attenuated during the neap tide periods, and the rhythm has also been found to vary in definition throughout the year. The activity pattern is most clearly denned in early summer and autumn, the population becoming arrhythmic during the winter months. The rhythm is relatively unaffected by the ambient light intensity and temperature of the recording conditions, and is evident in all post-natal stages of development. The possibility of mutual entrainment is discussed.

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