Cited by 69Circadian rhythm and melatoninStress Responses and CortisolSleep and Wakefulness Research

The Immune–Pineal Axis: Stress as a Modulator of Pineal Gland Function

Open access
Couto‐Moraes, Renato, Palermo‐Neto, João, Markus, Regina Pekelmann·2009·Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

Abstract

The temporal organization of mammals presents a daily adjustment to the environmental light/dark cycle. The environmental light detected by the retina adjusts the central clock in the suprachiasmatic nuclei, which innervate the pineal gland through a polysynaptic pathway. During the night, this gland produces and releases the nocturnal hormone melatonin, which circulates throughout the whole body and adjusts several bodily functions according to the existence and duration of darkness. We have previously shown that during the time frame of an inflammatory response, pro‐inflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor‐α, inhibit while anti‐inflammatory mediators, such as glucocorticoids, enhance the synthesis of melatonin, interfering in the daily adjustment of the light/dark cycle. Therefore, injury disconnects the organism from environmental cycling, while recovery restores the light/dark information to the whole organism. Here, we extend these observations by evaluating the effect of a mild restraint stress, which did not induce macroscopic gastric lesions. After 2 h of restraint, there was an increase in circulating corticosterone, indicating activation of the hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis. In parallel, an increase in melatonin production was observed. Taking into account the data obtained with models of inflammation and stress, we reinforce the hypothesis that the activity of the pineal gland is modulated by the state of the immune system and the HPA axis, implicating the darkness hormone melatonin as a modulator of defense responses.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2008.03978.x

Cites

64 of 64 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Acute and chronic physical and/or psychological stress affects the sleep centers of the brain.

    “Numerous human and animal studies suggest that acute and chronic physical and/or psychological stress affects the sleep centers of the brain (356–363).”

    From Developmental Trajectories of Early Life Stress and Trauma: A Narrative Review on Neurobiological Aspects Beyond Stress System Dysregulation (2019) · cites this paper as [358]

    The Stress section says physical and psychological stress activate the hypothalamus, and The Pineal Gland as a Sensor of Different Types of Stress reports that mild restraint stress alters nocturnal melatonin production in rats. The paper does not establish that both acute and chronic stress affect the brain’s sleep centers; its reported experiment used 30-minute or 2-hour restraint and measured pineal melatonin, not sleep-center activity. Page numbers were not available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.83)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Couto‐Moraes, R., Palermo‐Neto, J., & Markus, R. P.
Affiliations
Universidade de São Paulo (BR)
Corresponding author
Markus, Regina Pekelmann
Venue
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2009-02
Volume
1153
Issue
1
Pages
193-202
ISSN
  • 0077-8923 (ISSN-L)
  • 1749-6632
OpenAlex
W2062292999
Cited by
69
References
64
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 2 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 10
FWCI
3.59
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Scientific Electronic Library Online (São Paulo Research Foundation, Latin American and Caribbean Center on Health Sciences Information, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico) (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
  • Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico
  • Universidade de São Paulo
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Circadian rhythm and melatonin
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Sleep and Wakefulness Research
Keywords
melatonin, pineal gland, suprachiasmatic nucleus, circadian rhythm, light-dark cycle, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, corticosterone, restraint stress, inflammation, TNF-α, glucocorticoids, immunomodulation
MeSH terms
Animals, Circadian Rhythm, Corticosterone, Environment, Humans, Immune System, Melatonin, Pineal Gland, Restraint, Physical, Stress, Psychological, Inflammation Mediators

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review