TY  - JOUR
T1  - THe pineal
AU  - Altschule MD
Y1  - 1969/05/19
N1  - 10.1001/jama.1969.03160070071030
JO  - JAMA
SP  - 1193
EP  - 1193
VL  - 208
IS  - 7
N2  - A few years ago the prevalent belief was that the pineal body had no function, except perhaps to stimulate speculation. However, excellent data published more than 20 years ago showed the pineal to have a very active phosphate metabolism. The inevitable conclusion was that, if the pineal body was doing nothing, it was doing it at an extraordinary rate.Today part of what it is doing is better understood: It is making melatonin. The book's remarkably thorough literature analyses describe in well-organized detail the anatomic substrate and the biochemical processes involved in this synthesis. The discussion is highly interesting, but a suitable ending is not provided: although melatonin appears to be important in pigmentation in fish and amphibia, its role in mammalian physiology remains to be established. The possibility that the pineal transmits the effects of illumination to tissues perpetually in darkness seems reasonable, but the exact mechanisms remain elusive
SN  - 0098-7484
M3  - doi: 10.1001/jama.1969.03160070071030
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.1969.03160070071030
ER  -