Timed Maternal Melatonin Treatment Reverses Circadian Disruption of the Fetal Adrenal Clock Imposed by Exposure to Constant Light
Figure 1
Effect of maternal exposure to constant light and melatonin replacement on daily rhythm of maternal melatonin (A) and corticosterone (B) at day 18 of gestation.
Mean ± SEM of corticosterone and melatonin measured in maternal plasma collected every 4 hours from 4 pregnant dams maintained under LD (green symbols), 5 LL dams (Red symbols) and 5 LL+Mel dams (Blue symbols). *: Different from other time points for LD (P<0.05; ANOVA and Newman-Keuls). &: Different from other time points for LL+Mel (P<0.05; ANOVA and Newman-Keuls). #: Different from other time points for LL (P<0.05; ANOVA and Newman-Keuls). The grey bars indicate the clock time of lights off and melatonin replacement or placebo during subjective night.