Daily Variation in the Concentration of Melatonin and 5-Methoxytryptophol in the Human Pineal Gland: Effect of Age and Alzheimer’s Disease

In this study, melatonin & 5-methoxytryptophol (ML) were measured in the human pinael glands of 16 subjects with Alzheimer’s disease & 38 control subjects. Significantly higher melatonin levels were found in subjects who died at night, while significantly higher ML levels were found in those who died during the day. However, this daily variation disappeared in both older subjects & Alzheimer patients. Slight differences were found in 4 suicide victims. (VM)