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Effects of Steroids on Serotonin‐ N ‐Acetyltransferase Activity of Pineals in Organ Culture
Author(s) -
Yuwiler A.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
journal of neurochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.75
H-Index - 229
eISSN - 1471-4159
pISSN - 0022-3042
DOI - 10.1111/j.1471-4159.1989.tb10896.x
Subject(s) - organ culture , endocrinology , medicine , in vivo , serotonin , steroid , stimulation , potency , biology , in vitro , chemistry , receptor , biochemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , hormone
Treatment of neonatal, but not adult, rats with glucocorticoids decreases the rise in pineal serotonin N ‐acetyltransferase activity upon stimulation with β agonists. Pineals in organ culture and exposed to steroids also show a dose‐dependent decrement in response to β agonists which increases with steroid exposure time. Pineals from neonatal and adult animals are equally sensitive. The effects of steroids on pineals in organ culture appear to be reversible, and the order of potency of different steroids differs from that observed when steroids are administered in vivo. Both in vitro and in vivo steroids appear to act at a site after cyclic AMP generation. Hydroxyindole‐ O ‐methyltransferase activity in the adult pineal does not appear affected by steroid exposure.