Contribution of the photoperiod to circadian variations in serum cortisol and melatonin in boars

Abstract

Four pubertal (25 wk) crossbred boars were used to evaluate the role of the photoperiod in the organization of secretion of cortisol and melatonin throughout a 24-hr period. Boars were exposed to a 16-hr photoperiod in an environmentally controlled room and temperature was kept constant at 22 C. For the first 15 d, the onset of the photophase (light phase) and scotophase (dark phase) was 0200 hr and 1800 hr, respectively (ON2). During the final 15 d, the onset of the photophase and scotophase was advanced by 6 hr (0800 hr and 2400 hr, respectively; ON8). Samples of serum were obtained from catheterized boars at hourly intervals for 24 hr between the 14th to 15th d in both ON2 and ON8 photoperiods. Samples of serum were frozen and later assayed for cortisol and melatonin. The data were normalized to the clock time of onset of the photophase, fit to polynomial equations, and the profiles of cortisol and melatonin in ON2 and ON8 were tested for heterogeneity of regression. A circadian rhythm of cortisol was observed in both ON2 and ON8 and the fitted profiles were parallel, suggesting that the rhythm had shifted with the 6-hr shift in lights-on, lights-off. Generally, higher concentrations were observed during the late subjective evening and scotophase, whereas lower concentrations occurred about 6 to 10 hr after onset of the photophase. Although the profiles of melatonin did not differ in ON2 and ON8, there was no evidence of a nocturnal rise in melatonin in either treatment. It is suggested that some characteristic of the photoperiod organizes the circadian rhythm of cortisol in boars, but melatonin is not secreted in a rhythmic fashion in long photoperiods.