Free-Running Human Circadian Rhythms in Svalbard

1979 ◽  
Vol 34 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 470-473 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Johnsson ◽  
W. Engelmann ◽  
W. Klemke ◽  
Aud Tveito Ekse

Abstract The body temperature, activity-rest time, electrolytes of urine samples and mood was measured in two persons during a 19 day period under continuous light conditions in the arctic (vicinity of Ny Ålesund, Svalbard-Spitsbergen). For temperature recording a new thermoprobe and a portable printer was used. Possible week Zeitgeber of the 24 hour day did not synchronize the circadian system, since circadian rhythms of about 26 hours were found. These results open up the pos­ sibility to study effects of drugs on the circadian system of humans under Svalbard conditions.

1995 ◽  
Vol 268 (5) ◽  
pp. R1111-R1116 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Depres-Brummer ◽  
F. Levi ◽  
G. Metzger ◽  
Y. Touitou

In a constant environment, circadian rhythms persist with slightly altered period lengths. Results of studies with continuous light exposure are less clear, because of short exposure durations and single-variable monitoring. This study sought to characterize properties of the oscillator(s) controlling the rat's circadian system by monitoring both body temperature and locomotor activity. We observed that prolonged exposure of male Sprague-Dawley rats to continuous light (LL) systematically induced complete suppression of body temperature and locomotor activity circadian rhythms and their replacement by ultradian rhythms. This was preceded by a transient loss of coupling between both functions. Continuous darkness (DD) restored circadian synchronization of temperature and activity circadian rhythms within 1 wk. The absence of circadian rhythms in LL coincided with a mean sixfold decrease in plasma melatonin and a marked dampening but no abolition of its circadian rhythmicity. Restoration of temperature and activity circadian rhythms in DD was associated with normalization of melatonin rhythm. These results demonstrated a transient internal desynchronization of two simultaneously monitored functions in the rat and suggested the existence of two or more circadian oscillators. Such a hypothesis was further strengthened by the observation of a circadian rhythm in melatonin, despite complete suppression of body temperature and locomotor activity rhythms. This rat model should be useful for investigating the physiology of the circadian timing system as well as to identify agents and schedules having specific pharmacological actions on this system.


1978 ◽  
Vol 235 (5) ◽  
pp. R243-R249 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. I. Honma ◽  
T. Hiroshige

Three biological rhythms (locomotor activity, body temperature, and plasma corticosterone) were measured simultaneously in individual rats under light-dark cycles and continuous light. Spontaneous locomotor activity was recorded on an Animex and body temperature was telemetrically monitored throughout the experiments. Blood samples were obtained serially at 2-h intervals on the experimental days. Phase angles of these rhythms were calculated by a least-squares spectrum analysis. Under light-dark cycles, the acrophases of locomotor activity, body temperature, and plasma corticosterone were found at 0029, 0106, and 1940 h, respectively. When rats were exposed to 200 lx continuous light, locomotor activity and body temperature showed free-running rhythms with a period of 25.2 h on the average. Plasma corticosterone levels determined at 12 days after exposure to continuous light exhibited a circadian rhythm with the acrophase shifted to 0720. The acrophases of locomotor activity and body temperature, determined simultaneously on the same day, were found to be located at 1303 and 1358 h, respectively. Phase-angle differences among the three rhythms on the 12th day of continuous light were essentially the same with those under the light-dark cycle. These results suggest that circadian rhythms of locomotor activity, body temperature, and plasma corticosterone are most probably coupled to a common internal oscillator in the rat.


1997 ◽  
Vol 273 (4) ◽  
pp. R1540-R1549 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norman F. Ruby ◽  
Tom Kang ◽  
H. Craig Heller

Body temperature (Tb) was recorded via a biotelemetry system from 28 adult male Siberian hamsters maintained in a light-dark (LD) cycle of 16 h light/day for several months. After Tb was recorded for 3 wk, the LD cycle was phase delayed by extending the light phase by 5 h for 1 day; animals remained on a 16:8 LD cycle for the remainder of the experiment. Hamsters were injected daily with melatonin or vehicle solution for several weeks, beginning either 2 mo after ( experiment 1) or on the day of ( experiment 2) the phase shift; injections occurred within 30 min of dark onset. In experiment 1, 75% of animals free ran with circadian periods >24 h, beginning on the day of the phase shift, and never reentrained to the LD cycle; no hamsters unambiguously entrained to daily injections. In contrast, 78% of animals in experiment 2 entrained to melatonin injections, and 71% of those animals subsequently reentrained to the photocycle when the injection regimen ended. No vehicle-treated animals entrained to the injection schedule. Melatonin had no effect on daily mean Tb and Tb rhythm amplitude in either experiment; however, melatonin doubled the duration of a hyperthermic response that occurred after each injection. Thus melatonin can prevent loss of entrainment induced by a phase shift of the LD cycle but cannot restore entrainment to free-running animals. Failure to reentrain in the presence of two appropriately coordinated entraining agents also suggests that a phase shift of the photocycle can diminish the sensitivity of the circadian system to both photic and nonphotic input.


1978 ◽  
Vol 235 (5) ◽  
pp. R250-R256 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. I. Honma ◽  
T. Hiroshige

Circadian rhythms of locomotor activity, body temperature, and plasma corticosterone were determined simultaneously in individual rats that were exposed to 200 lx continuous light for over 3 mo. Free-running circadian rhythms of locomotor activity persisted for about 2 mo under continuous light and then the rhythms gradually decomposed. After 3 mo of exposure, circadian rhythms disappeared and activity bursts of 1- to 2-h duration manifested themselves several times during a 24-h period. Body temperature also exhibited several bursts of fluctuation and these bursts were closely correlated in their temporal sequence with those of locomotor activity. A least-squares spectrum analysis revealed that the burst had regular 4- to 6-h periods. Plasma corticosterone, determined by serial sampling at 2-h intervals from individual rats, also exhibited several secretion episodes in a day. These episodic secretions synchronized with bursts of locomotor activity. These results suggest that the ultradian component, manifested under prolonged continuous light, is a fundamental unit of the circadian rhythm and an oscillator for the ultradian rhythm is common to the three functions examined.


1999 ◽  
Vol 277 (3) ◽  
pp. R812-R828 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Pitrosky ◽  
R. Kirsch ◽  
A. Malan ◽  
E. Mocaer ◽  
P. Pevet

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.


2010 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Sailaja ◽  
S. Sivaprasad

Circadian rhythms in the silk gland protein profiles of Bombyx mori were analyzed under 12 h light and 12 h dark cycle (LD), continuous light (LL) and continuous dark (DD) conditions. The phase response curves of protein rhythms indicate the prevalence of a series of silk cycles, each comprising three phases; transcription, translation and consolidation of silk proteins. In the 24h- protein rhythm, the silk cycle repeats every 3h, 42 m under LD, 2h, 36m under LL and 3h under DD. The light and dark conditions advanced the rhythm of each silk cycle by 48m and 24m respectively. As a result the silk gland completes 7 rounds of protein synthesis under LD, 9 rounds under LL and 8 rounds under DD during the 24h-free running time of the rhythm. The light-induced clock-shift in the protein rhythm caused significant gains in economic parameters of sericulture with positive signals for enhancing silk productivity and quality.


2000 ◽  
Vol 164 (1) ◽  
pp. R1-R6 ◽  
Author(s):  
SW Lockley ◽  
DJ Skene ◽  
K James ◽  
K Thapan ◽  
J Wright ◽  
...  

Although melatonin treatment has been shown to phase shift human circadian rhythms, it still remains ambiguous as to whether exogenous melatonin can entrain a free-running circadian system. We have studied seven blind male subjects with no light perception who exhibited free-running urinary 6-sulphatoxymelatonin (aMT6s) and cortisol rhythms. In a single-blind design, five subjects received placebo or 5 mg melatonin p.o. daily at 2100 h for a full circadian cycle (35-71 days). The remaining two subjects also received melatonin (35-62 days) but not placebo. Urinary aMT6s and cortisol (n=7) and core body temperature (n=1) were used as phase markers to assess the effects of melatonin on the During melatonin treatment, four of the seven free-running subjects exhibited a shortening of their cortisol circadian period (tau). Three of these had taus which were statistically indistinguishable from entrainment. In contrast, the remaining three subjects continued to free-run during the melatonin treatment at a similar tau as prior to and following treatment. The efficacy of melatonin to entrain the free-running cortisol rhythms appeared to be dependent on the circadian phase at which the melatonin treatment commenced. These results show for the first time that daily melatonin administration can entrain free-running circadian rhythms in some blind subjects assessed using reliable physiological markers of the circadian system.


1984 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
pp. 433-437 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. P. O'malley ◽  
A. Richardson ◽  
N. Cook ◽  
S. Swart ◽  
F. D. Rosenthal

1. The diurnal rhythms of body temperature and serum thyrotrophin (TSH) levels in euthyroid individuals behaved inversely to one another. 2. An artificially induced rise in the body temperature of these individuals was accompanied by a fall in serum thyrotrophin levels, the amplitudes of their respective rhythms decreasing simultaneously. 3. There was a marked correlation between the degrees of change in body temperature and circulating thyrotrophin levels respectively during warming. 4. In normal subjects manipulation of the diurnal rhythm of body temperature brings about inverse alterations in the thyrotrophin rhythm.


2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cory T. Williams ◽  
Brian M. Barnes ◽  
C. Loren Buck

In indigenous arctic reindeer and ptarmigan, circadian rhythms are not expressed during the constant light of summer or constant dark of winter, and it has been hypothesized that a seasonal absence of circadian rhythms is common to all vertebrate residents of polar regions. Here, we show that, while free-living arctic ground squirrels do not express circadian rhythms during the heterothermic and pre-emergent euthermic intervals of hibernation, they display entrained daily rhythms of body temperature ( T b ) throughout their active season, which includes six weeks of constant sun. In winter, ground squirrels are arrhythmic and regulate core body temperatures to within ±0.2°C for up to 18 days during steady-state torpor. In spring, after the use of torpor ends, male but not female ground squirrels, resume euthermic levels of T b in their dark burrows but remain arrhythmic for up to 27 days. However, once activity on the surface begins, both sexes exhibit robust 24 h cycles of body temperature. We suggest that persistence of nycthemeral rhythms through the polar summer enables ground squirrels to minimize thermoregulatory costs. However, the environmental cues (zeitgebers) used to entrain rhythms during the constant light of the arctic summer in these semi-fossorial rodents are unknown.


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