Is histamine the final neurotransmitter in the entrainment of circadian rhythms in mammals?
Adaptation of circadian rhythms to the environmental light-dark cycle is necessary for the survival of organisms. This synchronization or entrainment is only caused by light (photic input) during the dark period, according to the internal biological clock of an organism. During the light period, internal factors (non-photic input), rather than light, are able to entrain circadian rhythms. In this article, the data that implicate the neurotransmitter system for histamine in circadian entrainment are reviewed. Furthermore, we speculate that histamine receptors are the final gate at which both photic and non-photic entrainment mechanisms converge before sending a resetting signal to the intracellular biological clock.
