[Pineal gland, biorhythms and aging of an organism].

The current data on the role of pineal gland in the regulation of biorhythms of an organism are critically reviewed. The changes of structure and functional status of the pineal gland and of the hypothalamic suprachyasmatic nucleus during normal aging and at age-associated pathology are presented as well. The particular attention are given to effects of light/dark regimen disturbances and shift work on the process of aging and development of pathology, cancer including. At last, the available data effects of exogenous melatonin on life span and tumorigenesis were observed.