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Journal of Cancer Research and... Jan 2023Germ cell tumor of the central nervous system (CNS) is an infrequent entity consisting of only 0.2%-1.7% of all primary CNS tumors. The pineal gland is the commonest... (Review)
Review
Germ cell tumor of the central nervous system (CNS) is an infrequent entity consisting of only 0.2%-1.7% of all primary CNS tumors. The pineal gland is the commonest location of CNS germinoma. Traditionally, radiotherapy alone has been used to treat localized pineal germinoma, which has delivered a very high cure rate. Spinal drop metastases from pineal germinoma can develop after a long time from diagnosis and primary treatment. Currently, craniospinal irradiation is the standard of care in metastatic pineal germinoma with spinal drop metastases along with systemic chemotherapy. Very few cases of pineal germinoma with spinal drop metastases have been published in the literature. We report a pineal gland germinoma case with spinal drop metastases in an 18-year-old boy and reviewed the published literature.
Topics: Male; Humans; Adolescent; Pineal Gland; Germinoma; Brain Neoplasms; Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal
PubMed: 38384076
DOI: 10.4103/jcrt.jcrt_657_22 -
World Neurosurgery May 2023Obtaining a prompt diagnosis, avoiding indwelling ventriculoperitoneal shunt, and enhancing the predictive value of pathologic examinations are only some of the... (Review)
Review
Obtaining a prompt diagnosis, avoiding indwelling ventriculoperitoneal shunt, and enhancing the predictive value of pathologic examinations are only some of the advantages conferred by a simultaneous third ventriculostomy and tumor biopsy in patients with pineal region tumors. The objective of this study was to retrospectively search the literature on concomitant, single burr hole endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) and tumor biopsy (TB) for pineal region tumors and to analyze the feasibility, surgical safety, and benefits of these 2 combined procedures. Consequently, a comprehensive, systematic literature search was performed in compliance with the updated PRISMA 2020 guidelines within electronic databases MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE, PLOS, and Cochrane Library. Statistical analysis was performed with IBM SPSS 28.0.1.1(14), using Kendall's and Spearman's tests, with a P < 0.05 considered significant. A total of 25 studies were selected and included in this review, for a total of 368 patients (mean age 20.6 years; range 1-86 years; SD 17.5). More than two-thirds of the procedures were operated with a rigid endoscope and 27.6% were performed with either a flexible endoscope, a combination of the 2, or not otherwise specified. Germinoma represented the most frequent diagnosis (20.1%) followed by astrocytoma (12.9%) and pineocytoma (9.9%). The single-entry approach allowed a correct histologic diagnosis in 88.7% of the examined cases. Summing up, concomitant ETV and TB represent a valuable option for the management of non-communicating hydrocephalus and the initial assessment of pineal region tumors. The histologic confirmation rate was 88.7% in the examined cohort, with only 10% of the biopsies yielding inconclusive results.
Topics: Humans; Young Adult; Adult; Ventriculostomy; Retrospective Studies; Feasibility Studies; Third Ventricle; Pineal Gland; Pinealoma; Neuroendoscopy; Biopsy; Hydrocephalus; Brain Neoplasms
PubMed: 36764448
DOI: 10.1016/j.wneu.2023.01.082 -
Behavioural Processes Jul 2016Melatonin is a hormone rhythmically secreted at night by the pineal gland in vertebrates. In diurnal mammals, melatonin is present during the inactive phase of the...
Melatonin is a hormone rhythmically secreted at night by the pineal gland in vertebrates. In diurnal mammals, melatonin is present during the inactive phase of the rest/activity cycle, and in primates it directly facilitates sleep and decreases body temperature. However, the role of the pineal gland for the promotion of sleep at night has not yet been studied in non-primate diurnal mammalian species. Here, the authors directly examined the hypothesis that the pineal gland contributes to diurnality in Nile grass rats by decreasing activity and increasing sleep at night, and that this could occur via effects on circadian mechanisms or masking, or both. Removing the pineal gland had no effect on the hourly distribution of activity across a 12:12 light-dark (LD) cycle or on the patterns of sleep-like behavior at night. Masking effects of light at night on activity were also not significantly different in pinealectomized and control grass rats, as 1h pulses of light stimulated increases in activity of sham and pinealectomized animals to a similar extent. In addition, the circadian regulation of activity was unaffected by the surgical condition of the animals. Our results suggest that the pineal gland does not contribute to diurnality in the grass rat, thus highlighting the complexity of temporal niche transitions. The current data raise interesting questions about how and why genetic and neural mechanisms linking melatonin to sleep regulatory systems might vary among mammals that reached a diurnal niche via parallel and independent pathways.
Topics: Animals; Circadian Rhythm; Female; Light; Motor Activity; Muridae; Photoperiod; Pineal Gland; Sleep
PubMed: 27038859
DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2016.03.007 -
Psychiatria Danubina Sep 2016In obese individuals impaired sleep and neuroendocrine alterations such as melatonin deficits are associated with circadian rhythm disruption, altered circadian clock...
BACKGROUND
In obese individuals impaired sleep and neuroendocrine alterations such as melatonin deficits are associated with circadian rhythm disruption, altered circadian clock gene expression, and bright light at night. While the relation of pineal gland volume (PGV) and melatonin levels has recently been documented in humans, surprisingly little is known about the possible interference of the PGV and the pathophysiology of obesity in humans.
SUBJECTS AND METHODS
We therefore compared the PGV of obese with non-obese individuals; both groups were matched by age and gender. Volumetric analyses were performed on the basis of 3 Tesla high resolution Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).
RESULTS
We found, that the PGV was significantly smaller in obese individuals than in lean controls (P=0.036). Moreover, PGV and waist-hip ratio showed a significant negative association in controls (P=0.018, r=-0.602) whereas no association of both variables was found in obese individuals (P=0.856, r=-0.051).
CONCLUSIONS
Thus, the current pilot investigation suggests that pineal gland function, reflected by PGV might be involved in the energy homeostasis and pathophysiological mechanisms that contribute to the development and the maintenance of obesity in humans. Moreover, our data supports the notion that the replacement of melatonin deficits might be a novel strategy in the treatment of obesity.
Topics: Animals; Body Mass Index; Circadian Rhythm; Energy Metabolism; Female; Homeostasis; Humans; Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; Imaging, Three-Dimensional; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Melatonin; Obesity; Organ Size; Pilot Projects; Pineal Gland; Reference Values; Sleep; Statistics as Topic
PubMed: 27658830
DOI: No ID Found -
Contrast Media & Molecular Imaging 2022Tumors in the pineal region are deep, with complex surrounding anatomy, adjacent to important blood vessels and nerve structures, and surgical resection is difficult and... (Review)
Review
Tumors in the pineal region are deep, with complex surrounding anatomy, adjacent to important blood vessels and nerve structures, and surgical resection is difficult and risky. In this paper, we reviewed the literature to understand the epidemiology and clinical manifestations of pineal region tumors in the country and study the clinical indications, related problems, and successful experiences of patients with pineal region tumors treated by the transtentorial-superior approach. The clinical data of 80 patients with pineal region tumors were selected as the retrospective research objects and divided into the control group and the treatment group, with 40 cases in each group, according to the random number table method. The control group was treated using the endoscopic transtentorial approach (Poppen approach), while the treatment group was treated with the endoscopic supratentorial approach (Krause approach). The inflammatory factors, inflammatory stress response, postoperative neurological dysfunction, clinical efficacy, and poor prognosis were observed and compared between the two groups. Tumor resection and recurrence were used to compare the clinical outcomes of tumors in the pineal region. The extent of surgical resection was 100% higher in both groups, and the treatment group was comparable to the control group. The prognosis of patients after the operation was poor. Nausea and vomiting, visual disturbance, upper vision paralysis, and ataxia in the treatment group were significantly lower than those in the control group, with no statistical significance ( > 0.05). At the same time, the bone window can be reduced to reduce trauma and provide a certain reference for patients to choose a safe and complete resection method.
Topics: Brain Neoplasms; Case-Control Studies; Cerebellum; Humans; Pineal Gland; Pinealoma; Retrospective Studies; Treatment Outcome
PubMed: 36017015
DOI: 10.1155/2022/5702309 -
Journal of Pineal Research Jan 2020Homeobox genes generally encode transcription factors involved in regulating developmental processes. In the pineal gland, a brain structure devoted to nocturnal...
Homeobox genes generally encode transcription factors involved in regulating developmental processes. In the pineal gland, a brain structure devoted to nocturnal melatonin synthesis, a number of homeobox genes are also expressed postnatally; among these is the LIM homeobox 4 gene (Lhx4). We here report that Lhx4 is specifically expressed in the postnatal pineal gland of rats and humans. Circadian analyses revealed a fourfold rhythm in Lhx4 expression in the rat pineal gland, with rhythmic expression detectable from postnatal day 10. Pineal Lhx4 expression was confirmed to be positively driven by adrenergic signaling, as evidenced by in vivo modulation of Lhx4 expression by pharmacological (isoprenaline injection) and surgical (superior cervical ganglionectomy) interventions. In cultured pinealocytes, Lhx4 expression was upregulated by cyclic AMP, a second messenger of norepinephrine. By use of RNAscope technology, Lhx4 transcripts were found to be exclusively localized in melatonin-synthesizing pinealocytes. This prompted us to investigate the possible role of Lhx4 in regulation of melatonin-producing enzymes. By use of siRNA technology, we knocked down Lhx4 by 95% in cultured pinealocytes; this caused a reduction in transcripts encoding the melatonin-producing enzyme arylalkylamine N-acetyl transferase (Aanat). Screening the transcriptome of siRNA-treated pinealocytes by RNAseq revealed a significant impact of Lhx4 on the phototransduction pathway and on transcripts involved in development of the nervous system and photoreceptors. These data suggest that rhythmic expression of Lhx4 in the pineal gland is controlled via an adrenergic-cyclic AMP mechanism and that Lhx4 acts to promote nocturnal melatonin synthesis.
Topics: Adult; Animals; Arylalkylamine N-Acetyltransferase; Circadian Rhythm; Cyclic AMP; Female; Humans; LIM-Homeodomain Proteins; Male; Melatonin; Middle Aged; Norepinephrine; Pineal Gland; RNA, Small Interfering; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Transcription Factors; Transcriptome; Young Adult
PubMed: 31609018
DOI: 10.1111/jpi.12616 -
Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology... Dec 2007Melatonin, an indole formed enzymatically from L-tryptophan, is the most versatile and ubiquitous hormone molecule produced not only in all animals but also in some... (Review)
Review
Melatonin, an indole formed enzymatically from L-tryptophan, is the most versatile and ubiquitous hormone molecule produced not only in all animals but also in some plants. This review focuses on the role of melatonin in upper portion of gastrointestinal tract (GIT), including oral cavity, esophagus, stomach and duodenum, where this indole is generated and released into the GIT lumen and into the portal circulation to be uptaken, metabolized by liver and released with bile into the duodenum. The biosynthetic steps of melatonin with two major rate limiting enzymes, arylalkylamine-N-acetyltransferase (AA-NAT) and hydroxyindole-O-methyltransferase (HIOMT), transforming tryptophan to melatonin, originally identified in pinealocytes have been also detected in entero-endocrine (EE) cells of GIT wall, where this indole may act via endocrine, paracrine and/or luminal pathway through G-protein coupled receptors. Melatonin in GIT was shown to be generated in about 500 times larger amounts than it is produced in pineal gland. The production of melatonin by pineal gland shows circadian rhythm with high night-time peak, especially at younger age, followed by the fall during the day-light time. As a highly lipophilic substance, melatonin reaches all body cells within minutes, to serve as a convenient circadian timing signal for alteration of numerous body functions.. Following pinealectomy, the light/dark cycle of plasma melatonin levels disappears, while its day-time blood concentrations are attenuated but sustained mainly due to its release from the GIT. After oral application of tryptophan, the plasma melatonin increases in dose-dependent manner both in intact and pinealectomized animals, indicating that extrapineal sources such as GIT rather than pineal gland are the major producers of this indole. In the upper portion of GIT, melatonin exhibits a wide spectrum of activities such as circadian entrainment, free radicals scavenging activity, protection of mucosa against various irritants and healing of various GIT lesions such as stomatitis, esophagitis, gastritis and peptic ulcer. This review concentrates on the generation and pathophysiological implication of melatonin in upper GIT.
Topics: Acetylserotonin O-Methyltransferase; Animals; Antioxidants; Arylalkylamine N-Acetyltransferase; Eating; Gastrointestinal Diseases; Humans; Intestinal Mucosa; Liver; Melatonin; Mouth Diseases; Pineal Gland; Tryptophan; Upper Gastrointestinal Tract
PubMed: 18212399
DOI: No ID Found -
PloS One 2017A recent study of the pineal gland of the rat found that the expression of more than 3000 genes showed significant day/night variations (The Hartley dataset). The...
INTRODUCTION
A recent study of the pineal gland of the rat found that the expression of more than 3000 genes showed significant day/night variations (The Hartley dataset). The investigators of this report made available a supplemental table in which they tabulated the expression of many genes that they did not discuss, including those coding for components of the ubiquitin proteasome system. Herein we identify the genes of the ubiquitin proteasome system whose expression were significantly influenced by environmental lighting in the Hartley dataset, those that were stimulated by DBcAMP in pineal glands in culture, and those that were stimulated by norepinephrine.
PURPOSE
Using the Ubiquitin and Ubiquitin-like Conjugation Database (UUCA) we identified ubiquitin ligases and conjugases, and deubiquitinases in the Hartley dataset for the purpose of determining whether expression of genes of the ubiquitin proteasome pathway were significantly influenced by day/night variations and if these variations were regulated by autonomic innervation of the pineal gland from the superior cervical ganglia.
METHODS
In the Hartley experiments pineal glands groups of rats sacrificed during the day and groups sacrificed during the night were examined for gene expression. Additional groups of rats had their superior cervical ganglia removed surgically or surgically decentralized and the pineal glands likewise examined for gene expression.
RESULTS
The genes with at least a 2-fold day/night significant difference in expression included genes for 5 ubiquitin conjugating enzymes, genes for 58 ubiquitin E3 ligases and genes for 6 deubiquitinases. A 35-fold day/night difference was noted in the expression of the gene Sik1, which codes for a protein containing both an ubiquitin binding domain (UBD) and an ubiquitin-associated (UBA) domain. Most of the significant differences in these genes were prevented by surgical removal, or disconnection, of the superior cervical ganglia, and most were responsive, in vitro, to treatment with a cyclic AMP analog, and norepinephrine. All previously described 24-hour rhythms in the pineal require an intact sympathetic input from the superior cervical ganglia.
CONCLUSIONS
The Hartley dataset thus provides evidence that the pineal gland is a highly useful model for studying adrenergically dependent mechanisms regulating variations in ubiquitin ligases, ubiquitin conjugases, and deubiquitinases, mechanisms that may be physiologically relevant not only in the pineal gland, but in all adrenergically innervated tissue.
Topics: Animals; Bucladesine; Circadian Rhythm; Deubiquitinating Enzymes; Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; Iodide Peroxidase; Melatonin; Norepinephrine; Pineal Gland; Proteasome Endopeptidase Complex; Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Receptors, Melatonin; Superior Cervical Ganglion; Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases; Iodothyronine Deiodinase Type II
PubMed: 28212404
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0172441 -
The Journal of Comparative Neurology Oct 2018Microglial cells are one of the interstitial elements of the pineal gland (PG). We recently reported the pattern of microglia colonization and activation, and...
Microglial cells are one of the interstitial elements of the pineal gland (PG). We recently reported the pattern of microglia colonization and activation, and microglia-Pax6 cell interactions during normal pineal ontogeny. Here, we describe the dynamics of microglia-Pax6 cell associations and interactions after surgical or pharmacological manipulation. In adult rats, the superior cervical ganglia (SCG) were exposed, and either bilaterally excised (SCGx) or decentralized (SCGd). In the SCGx PGs, the density of Iba1 microglia increased after surgery and returned to sham baseline levels 13 days later. Pineal microglia also responded to SCGd, a more subtle denervation. The number of clustered Iba1 /PCNA /ED1 microglia was higher 4 days after both surgeries compared to the sham-operated group. However, the number of Pax6 /PCNA cells and the percentage of Pax6 cells contacted by and/or phagocytosed by microglia increased significantly only after SCGx. Separate groups of rats were treated with either bacterial lipopolysaccharides (LPS) or doxycycline (DOX) to activate or inhibit pineal microglia, respectively. Peripheral LPS administration caused an increase in the number of clustered Iba1 /PCNA /ED1 microglial cells, and in the percentage of Pax6 cells associated with and/or engulfed by microglia. In the LPS-treated PGs, we also noted an increase in the number of PCNA cells that were Iba1 within the microglial cell clusters. The density of Pax6 cells did not change after LPS treatment. DOX administration did not influence the parameters analyzed. These data suggest that pineal microglia are highly receptive cells capable of rapidly responding in a differential manner to surgical and pharmacological stimuli.
Topics: Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Calcium-Binding Proteins; Doxycycline; Ganglia, Spinal; Lipopolysaccharides; Male; Microfilament Proteins; Microglia; Neurosurgery; PAX6 Transcription Factor; Phagocytosis; Physical Stimulation; Pineal Gland; Rats; Rats, Wistar
PubMed: 30246867
DOI: 10.1002/cne.24505 -
Acta Neurobiologiae Experimentalis 1994The pineal hormone melatonin is a potent free radical scavenger. In particular, it quenches what is generally considered the most toxic and damaging free radical... (Review)
Review
The pineal hormone melatonin is a potent free radical scavenger. In particular, it quenches what is generally considered the most toxic and damaging free radical produced in the organism, the hydroxyl radical (.OH). Melatonin production in the pineal gland declines progressively with age such that in old animals and elderly humans the levels of melatonin available to the organism are a fraction of that of young individuals. A prominent theory of aging claims that the anatomical and functional degeneration that organs undergo during aging is a consequence of accumulated free radical damage. This being so, melatonin may well play a significant role in aging processes. If the drop in melatonin which normally occurs as animals age could be prevented, perhaps the aging process would also be delayed. Also, supplemental administration of melatonin may be beneficial in delaying age-related degenerative conditions. Certainly, free radical damage has been implicated in a number of neurodegenerative disorders. Theoretically, melatonin administration may forestall these as well.
Topics: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Aging; Animals; Circadian Rhythm; Free Radicals; Humans; Hydroxyl Radical; Melatonin; Middle Aged; Pineal Gland
PubMed: 7801790
DOI: No ID Found