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Melatonin and Female Reproduction: An Expanding Universe

For more than a half century the hormone melatonin has been associated with vertebrate reproduction, particularly in the context of seasonal breeding. This association is due in large measure to the fact that melatonin secretion from the pineal gland into the peripheral circulation is a nocturnal ev...

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Autor principal: Olcese, James M.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7067698/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32210911
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2020.00085
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author Olcese, James M.
author_facet Olcese, James M.
author_sort Olcese, James M.
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description For more than a half century the hormone melatonin has been associated with vertebrate reproduction, particularly in the context of seasonal breeding. This association is due in large measure to the fact that melatonin secretion from the pineal gland into the peripheral circulation is a nocturnal event whose duration is reflective of night length, which of course becomes progressively longer during winter months and correspondingly shorter during the summer months. The nocturnal plasma melatonin signal is conserved in essentially all vertebrates and is accessed not just for reproductive rhythms, but for seasonal cycles of metabolic activities, immune functions, and behavioral expression. A vast literature on melatonin and vertebrate biology has accrued over the past 60 years since melatonin's discovery, including the broad topic of animal reproduction, which is far beyond the scope of this human-focused review. Although modern humans in the industrialized world appear in general to have little remaining reproductive seasonality, the relationships between melatonin and human reproduction continue to attract widespread scientific attention. The purpose of this chapter is to draw attention to some newer developments in the field, especially those with relevance to human fertility and reproductive medicine. As the vast majority of studies have focused on the female reproductive system, a discussion of the potential impact of melatonin on human male fertility will be left for others.
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spelling pubmed-70676982020-03-24 Melatonin and Female Reproduction: An Expanding Universe Olcese, James M. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) Endocrinology For more than a half century the hormone melatonin has been associated with vertebrate reproduction, particularly in the context of seasonal breeding. This association is due in large measure to the fact that melatonin secretion from the pineal gland into the peripheral circulation is a nocturnal event whose duration is reflective of night length, which of course becomes progressively longer during winter months and correspondingly shorter during the summer months. The nocturnal plasma melatonin signal is conserved in essentially all vertebrates and is accessed not just for reproductive rhythms, but for seasonal cycles of metabolic activities, immune functions, and behavioral expression. A vast literature on melatonin and vertebrate biology has accrued over the past 60 years since melatonin's discovery, including the broad topic of animal reproduction, which is far beyond the scope of this human-focused review. Although modern humans in the industrialized world appear in general to have little remaining reproductive seasonality, the relationships between melatonin and human reproduction continue to attract widespread scientific attention. The purpose of this chapter is to draw attention to some newer developments in the field, especially those with relevance to human fertility and reproductive medicine. As the vast majority of studies have focused on the female reproductive system, a discussion of the potential impact of melatonin on human male fertility will be left for others. Frontiers Media S.A. 2020-03-06 /pmc/articles/PMC7067698/ /pubmed/32210911 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2020.00085 Text en Copyright © 2020 Olcese. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Endocrinology
Olcese, James M.
Melatonin and Female Reproduction: An Expanding Universe
title Melatonin and Female Reproduction: An Expanding Universe
title_full Melatonin and Female Reproduction: An Expanding Universe
title_fullStr Melatonin and Female Reproduction: An Expanding Universe
title_full_unstemmed Melatonin and Female Reproduction: An Expanding Universe
title_short Melatonin and Female Reproduction: An Expanding Universe
title_sort melatonin and female reproduction: an expanding universe
topic Endocrinology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7067698/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32210911
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2020.00085
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