Cardiovascular Control by the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus: Neural and Neuroendocrine Mechanisms in Human and Rat
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F. A. J. L. Scheer
Abstract
The risk for cardiovascular incidents is highest in the early morning, which seems partially due to endogenous factors. Endogenous circadian rhythms in mammalian physiology and behavior are regulated by the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). Recently, anatomical evidence has been provided that SCN functioning is disturbed in patients with essential hypertension. Here we review neural and neuroendocrine mechanisms by which the SCN regulates the cardiovascular system. First, we discuss evidence for an endogenous circadian rhythm in cardiac activity, both in humans and rats, which is abolished after SCN lesioning in rats. The immediate impact of retinal light exposure at night on SCN-output to the cardiovascular system, which signals 'day' in both diurnal (human) and nocturnal (rat) mammals with opposite effects on physiology, is discussed. Furthermore, we discuss the impact of melatonin treatment on the SCN and its potential medical relevance in patients with essential hypertension. Finally, we argue that regional differentiation of the SCN and autonomous nervous system is required to explain the multitude of circadian rhythms. Insights into the mechanisms by which the SCN affects the cardiovascular system may provide new strategies for the treatment of disease conditions known to coincide with circadian rhythm disturbances, as is presented for essential hypertension.
Copyright © 2003 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG
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Articles in the same Issue
- The Circadian Clock of the Unicellular Eukaryotic Model Organism Chlamydomonas reinhardtii
- Cardiovascular Control by the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus: Neural and Neuroendocrine Mechanisms in Human and Rat
- Synchronization of the Molecular Clockwork by Light- and Food-Related Cues in Mammals
- Identification of Rhythmic Subsystems in the Circadian Cycle of Crassulacean Acid Metabolism under Thermoperiodic Perturbations
- Age-Dependent Effects of Conditioning on Cholinergic and Vasopressin Systems in the Rat Suprachiasmatic Nucleus
- The Magnetofection Method: Using Magnetic Force to Enhance Gene Delivery
- The Protease Inhibitor Bikunin, a Novel Anti-Metastatic Agent
- Transcriptional Regulation of the Urokinase Receptor (u-PAR) – A Central Molecule of Invasion and Metastasis
- Identification and Characterization of KAT, a Novel Gene Preferentially Expressed in Several Human Cancer Cell Lines
- Trichostatin A and Structurally Related Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors Induce 5-Lipoxygenase Promoter Activity
- Treatment of Tumor Cells with Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors Results in Altered Recruitment of Methyl-CpG Binding Proteins to a Methylated CpG Island
- Intra- and Interspecies Interactions between Prion Proteins and Effects of Mutations and Polymorphisms
- Contribution of the Absolutely Conserved B8Gly to the Foldability of Insulin
- Fabin, a Novel Calcyon-Like and Glucanase-Like Protein with Mitogenic, Antifungal and Translation-Inhibitory Activities from Broad Beans
- Quantification of Elastase-Like Activity in 13 Human Cancer Cell Lines and in an Immortalized Human Epithelial Cell Line by RP-HPLC
- Differences in the Activation Mechanism between the α and β Subunits of Human Meprin
