08.01.2013 Views

The Development of Circadian Rhythms in Human Infants

The Development of Circadian Rhythms in Human Infants

The Development of Circadian Rhythms in Human Infants

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

were read aga<strong>in</strong>st air at 429 nm after 10 m<strong>in</strong>utes. Concentrations <strong>of</strong> creat<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>e were<br />

measured <strong>in</strong> mg ml 1 .<br />

2.5 Estimation <strong>of</strong> ur<strong>in</strong>ary melaton<strong>in</strong><br />

Values for melaton<strong>in</strong> estimation were derived by us<strong>in</strong>g an assay for a metabolite <strong>of</strong><br />

melaton<strong>in</strong>; 6-sulphatoxymelaton<strong>in</strong> (aMT6s) (Arendt et al., 1985).<br />

<strong>The</strong>re is good correlation between ur<strong>in</strong>ary 6-sulphatoxymelaton<strong>in</strong> and ur<strong>in</strong>ary/serum<br />

melaton<strong>in</strong> (Bojkowski et al., 1987). <strong>The</strong> data were log transformed. All values were<br />

corrected for renal metabolism us<strong>in</strong>g creat<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>e.<br />

Ur<strong>in</strong>ary aMT6s assay was conducted us<strong>in</strong>g a radioimmunoassay us<strong>in</strong>g as 125 I labelled<br />

tracer (Stockgrand Ltd, Surrey UK). <strong>The</strong> diluted ur<strong>in</strong>e sample was <strong>in</strong>cubated with a<br />

specific sheep antiserum to aMT6s and trace amounts <strong>of</strong> 125 I-aMT6s was added. <strong>The</strong><br />

samples are <strong>in</strong>cubated for 15-18 hours at 4 o C. <strong>The</strong> free and antibody bound fractions<br />

<strong>of</strong> 6-sulphatoxymelaton<strong>in</strong> are then separated and centrifuged. <strong>The</strong> non-antibody<br />

bound fraction <strong>in</strong> the pellet is counted <strong>in</strong> a gamma radiation counter and the 6-<br />

sulphatoxymelaton<strong>in</strong> concentration <strong>in</strong> the samples determ<strong>in</strong>ed from the standard dose-<br />

response curve that was simultaneously constructed. All samples are processed <strong>in</strong><br />

duplicate.<br />

71

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!