Study On The Relationship Between Melatonin And "Lung Correspondence To Autumn" Theory

Objective:By observing the changes of related immune parameters and serum melatonin(MT) inthe lung physical and pathological conditions in the beginning of autumn and autumnalequinox, to study the effects of different solar terms changes in autumn on lung physicaland pathological conditions and the role that MT plays in the lung physical andpathological conditions in the solar terms of autumn, and to primarily explore thecorrelation between “lung correspondence to autumn” theory and MT.Methods:80SPF SD rats, half male and half female, were randomly divided into the normalcontrol group(control group), the pinealectomy group(operated group), the sham-operatedgroup(sham group) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD) lung-Qi deficiencysyndrome group(lung-Qi deficiency group) with10rats in each group at correspondingsolar term. Rats in the operated group and sham group were operated by pinealectomy andsham-pinealectomy a month before the corresponding solar term, and rats model in thelung-Qi deficiency group was established by passive smoking and intratracheal instillationof lipopolysaccharide (LPS) the first28days, the control group were gived no specialtreatment, respectively. All rats were housed with normal forage and drank freely underroom temperature and natural light. Then the rats were sacrificed at corresponding solarterm. Thymus and spleen were weighed, meanwhile, the levels of serum MT, seruminterleukin6(IL-6), tumor necrosis factor α(TNF-α), serum immunoglobulin E(IgE), γinterferon(IFN-γ) in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid(BALF) were measured byenzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).Result:1In the beginning of autumn, compared with the normal group, the levels of thymusand spleen index, MT, IgE, TNF-α and IL-6in serum and IFN-γ in BALF in the shamgroup was no significant difference; thymus index (P<0.01) significantly decreased,serum MT and IgE levels decreased(P<0.05), serum TNF-α (P<0.01), serum IL-6(P <0.05) and IFN-γ in BALF (P<0.05) elevated, spleen index had no significant difference(P>0.05) in the operated group; thymus index significantly reduced (P<0.05), MT(P<0.05) and IgE in serum (P <0.01) were significantly decreased, serum TNF-α(P<0.01), serum IL-6(P<0.01) and IFN-γ in BALF (P<0.05) were significantlyincreased, spleen index had no significant difference (P>0.05), but there had anincreasing trend in lung-Qi deficiency group.2In autumnal equinox, compared with the normal group, the levels of thymus andspleen index, MT, IgE, TNF-α and IL-6in serum and IFN-γ in BALF in the sham groupwas no significant difference; thymus index (P<0.01) significantly decreased, serum MTand IgE levels decreased(P<0.05), serum TNF-α, serum IL-6and IFN-γ in BALF elevated(P<0.05), spleen index had no significant difference (P>0.05) in the operated group;thymus index significantlyreduced (P<0.05), spleen index significantly increased (P<0.05),MT (P<0.05) and IgE in serum (P<0.01) were significantly decreased, serum TNF-α,serum IL-6and IFN-γ in BALF were significantly increased (P<0.05) in lung-Qideficiency group.3From the beginning of autumn to autumnal equinox,for the normal group, there hadan increasing tendency of the serum MT level(P<0.05) and thymus index (P>0.05), therehad a downward tendency of the levels of TNF-α, IL-6and IgE in serum (P<0.01) andIFN-γ in BALF (P>0.05); for the operated group, there had still an ascending trend of theserum MT level(P<0.01) and thymus index (P<0.05), there had a decreasing trend of thelevels of TNF-α, IL-6and IgE in serum (P<0.01) and IFN-γ in BALF (P<0.05); for thelung-Qi deficiency group, there had still an ascending trend of the serum MT level(P<0.01),there had a decreasing trend of the levels of TNF-α, IL-6and IgE in serum (P<0.01) andIFN-γ in BALF (P>0.05), the levels of thymus and spleen index had no significantdifference (P>0.05).Conclusion:1There is certain correlation between changes in the content of MT and “lungcorrespondence to autumn” theory. MT may be one of the important material basis ofpathological changes when the lung-Qi deficiency rats impair “correspondence to autumn” feature. Thymus, serum TNF-α, serum IL-6serum IgE and IFN-γ in BALF may beinvolved in some chains of light-MT signal transduction mechanism that is closely relatedto the theory of “lung correspondence to autumn”.2The related immune parameters were existed the rhythm of lower in the beginningof autumn and higher in autumn equinox, which may be one of pathological mechanismswhy disorders of the respiratory system are more common in the autumn, and providesome clues to prevent respiratory system diseases reasonably and timely.