Role for acetylcholine in mediating effects of light on reproduction.

abstract

• The length of day, or photoperiod, regulates the annual cycle of reproductive activity in the golden hamster. The inhibitory effects of a short-day photoperiod on testicular function were prevented by nighttime, but not daytime, intraventricular injections of carbachol, a cholinergic agonist. Short pulses of light during the night also block short-day induced testicular regression. The findings suggest that acetylcholine may play an important role in the mechanism through which information about the light-dark environment is transferred to the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis.

authors

• Earnest, David

published proceedings

• Science

author list (cited authors)

• Earnest, D. J., & Turek, F. W.

citation count

• 44

complete list of authors

• Earnest, DJ||Turek, FW

publication date

• January 1983

publisher

• American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)  Publisher

published in

• Science  Journal

keywords

• Acetylcholine
• Animals
• Carbachol
• Cricetinae
• Light
• Male
• Mesocricetus
• Reproduction
• Testis

PubMed Central ID

• 6849121

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

• 10.1126/science.6849121

start page

• 77

end page

• 79

volume

• 219

issue

• 4580

URL

• http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.6849121