Can I read Melatonin and the circadian system: Keys for health with a focus on sleep on EtoBox?

Melatonin and the circadian system: Keys for health with a focus on sleep by Paul Pevet; Etienne Challet; Marie-Paule Felder-Schmittbuhl is a book available to read on EtoBox.

What is Melatonin and the circadian system: Keys for health with a focus on sleep about?

Melatonin (MLT), secreted during the night by the pineal gland, is an efferent hormonal signal of the master circadian clock located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). Consequently, it is a reliable phase marker of the SCN clock. If one defines as “chronobiotic,” a drug able to influence the phase and/or the period of the circadian clock, MLT is a very potent one. The most convincing data obtained so far come from studies on totally blind individuals. Exogenous MLT administered daily entrains the sleep–wake cycle of these individuals to a 24-h cycle. MLT, however, is not essential to sleep. In nocturnally, active mammals, MLT is released during the night concomitantly with the daily period of wakefulness. Therefore, MLT cannot be simply considered as a sleep hormone, but rather as a signal of darkness. Its role in the circadian system is to reinforce nighttime physiology, including timing of the sleep–wake cycle and other circadian rhythms. MLT exerts its effects on the sleep cycle especially by a direct action on the master circadian clock. The sleep–wake cycle is depending not only on the circadian clock but also on an orchestrated network of different centers in the brain. Th

Author

Paul Pevet; Etienne Challet; Marie-Paule Felder-Schmittbuhl

Publisher

Elsevier

Published

2021

Language

EN

ISBN

9780128199763

Subjects

Medical, Science, Medicine

Updated

2026-03-24