LIGHT AND PREGNANCY: THE RESULTS OF EXPERIMENT

Abstract

Objective – to establish the presence of interrelation between the functioning of the pineal gland, immune system and progress of pregnancy.Material and methods. The study was conducted on 20 sexually mature nonlinear female white rats Rattus Norvegicus Wistar, which had not given birth (study group). The control group consisted of 16 female rats with the same parameters. After pregnancy occurrence the animals of the study group were exposed to light in regimen 24 hours by halogenic lamps of “white” light; the rats of control group were kept in regimen “12 hours of light/12 hours of darkness”. In 21 days after confirmation of pregnancy the rats were slayed. The concentrations of melatonin and interleukines in the blood of animals were studied. The uteruses of the slayed animals were histologically examined. Results. The termination of pregnancy was found at histological examination in all rats of study group, whereas in the control group the pregnancies were developed normally. The significant decreasing of the melatonin concentration was found in the blood of the rats of the group under study, comparing to the control (74,79±14,51 pg/ml, in the control group 245,00±32,26 pg/ml, p<0,01), as well as the increasing of the level of IL-6 (5,59±1,02 pg/ml, in control group 1,28±0,54 pg/ml, p<0,05).Conclusions. The depression of the functioning of the pineal gland, caused by light, has the direct influence on pregnancy process, and may even be a reason for pregnancy termination; the activation of pro-inflammatory immunity has been noticed in this case.