Disorders of the sleep-wake cycle in adults (original) (raw)
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Pharmacotherapy in Psychiatry and Neurology, 2019
Aim. Circadian Rhythm Sleep-Wake Disorders (CRSWD) are a common group of sleep disorders. The aim of this article is to present the principles for treatment of CRSWD with melatonin. Methods. Review of data from randomised, placebo-controlled clinical trials. Results. The main indication for the use of melatonin is a treatment of Delayed Sleep-Wake Phase Disorder (DSWPD). Melatonin is also recommended for the treatment of Irregular Sleep-Wake Rhythm Disorder and Non-24-Hour Sleep-Wake Rhythm Disorder. However, in the treatment of Advanced Sleep-Wake Phase Disorder melatonin plays a secondary role. The therapeutic effect of melatonin primarily depends on the appropriate time of its administration. In DSWPD it should be administered even 6–8 hours before the scheduled sleep time. The available data does not indicate that the melatonin’s therapeutic effect is strongly correlated with the used dose and the recommended doses fall within a wide range of 0.5 to 10 mg. However, usually highe...
Chronobiology International, 2014
Delayed sleep phase disorder (DSPD) is assumed to be common amongst adolescents, with potentially severe consequences in terms of school attendance and daytime functioning. The most common treatment approaches for DSPD are based on the administration of bright light and/or exogenous melatonin with or without adjunct behavioural instructions. Much is generally known about the chronobiological effects of light and melatonin. However, placebo-controlled treatment studies for DSPD are scarce, in particular in adolescents and young adults, and no standardized guidelines exist regarding treatment. The aim of the present study was, therefore, to investigate the short- and long-term effects on sleep of a DSPD treatment protocol involving administration of timed bright light and melatonin alongside gradual advancement of rise time in adolescents and young adults with DSPD in a randomized controlled trial and an open label follow-up study. A total of 40 adolescents and young adults (age range 16-25 years) diagnosed with DSPD were recruited to participate in the study. The participants were randomized to receive treatment for two weeks in one of four treatment conditions: dim light and placebo capsules, bright light and placebo capsules, dim light and melatonin capsules or bright light and melatonin capsules. In a follow-up study, participants were re-randomized to either receive treatment with the combination of bright light and melatonin or no treatment in an open label trial for approximately three months. Light and capsules were administered alongside gradual advancement of rise times. The main end points were sleep as assessed by sleep diaries and actigraphy recordings and circadian phase as assessed by salivary dim light melatonin onset (DLMO). During the two-week intervention, the timing of sleep and DLMO was advanced in all treatment conditions as seen by about 1 h advance of bed time, 2 h advance of rise time and 2 h advance of DLMO in all four groups. Sleep duration was reduced with approximately 1 h. At three-month follow-up, only the treatment group had maintained an advanced sleep phase. Sleep duration had returned to baseline levels in both groups. In conclusion, gradual advancement of rise time produced a phase advance during the two-week intervention, irrespective of treatment condition. Termination of treatment caused relapse into delayed sleep times, whereas long-term treatment with bright light and melatonin (three months) allowed maintenance of the advanced sleep phase.
Some implications of melatonin use in chronopharmacology of insomnia
European journal of pharmacology, 2015
The last decade has witnessed the emergence of new chronopharmacological perspectives. In the case of sleep disorders, the accumulating evidence suggests that even a minor dysfunction in the biological clock can impact broadly upon body physiology causing increases in sleep onset latency, phase delays or advances in sleep initiation, frequent nocturnal awakenings, reduced sleep efficiency, delayed and shortened rapid eye movement sleep and increased periodic leg movements, among others. Thus, restoration of the adequate circadian pattern of proper sleep hygiene, targeted exposure to light and the use of chronobiotic drugs, such as melatonin, which affect the output phase of clock-controlled circadian rhythms, can help to recover the sleep-wake cycle. The optimization of drug effects and/or minimization of toxicity by timing medications with regard to biological rhythms is known as chronotherapeutics. While chronotherapeutical approaches have been particularly successful in the treat...
Human circadian rhythms: physiological and therapeutic relevance of light and melatonin
Annals of Clinical Biochemistry: International Journal of Laboratory Medicine, 2006
Ocular light plays a key role in human physiology by transmitting time of day information. The production of the pineal gland hormone melatonin is under the control of the light-dark cycle. Its profile of secretion defines biological night and it has been called the 'darkness hormone'. Light mediates a number of non-visual responses, such as phase shifting the internal circadian clock, increasing alertness, heart rate and pupil constriction. Both exogenous melatonin and light, if appropriately timed, can phase shift the human circadian system. These 'chronobiotic' effects of light and melatonin have been used successfully to alleviate and correct circadian rhythm disorders, such as those experienced following travel across time zones, in night shift work and in circadian sleep disorders. The effectiveness of melatonin and light are currently being optimized in terms of time of administration, light intensity, duration and wavelength, and melatonin dose and formulatio...
Clinical applications of melatonin in circadian disorders
Dialogues in clinical neuroscience, 2003
Chronobiological disorders and syndromes include seasonal affective disorder (SAD), total blindness, advanced and delayed sleep phase syndrome, jet lag, and shift work maladaptation. These disorders are treated by adjusting circadian phase, using appropriately timed bright light exposure and melatonin administration (at doses of 0.5 mg or less). In some cases, it may be necessary to measure internal circadían phase, using the time when endogenous melatonin levels rise.
Complex effects of melatonin on human circadian rhythms in constant dim light
Journal of biological rhythms, 1997
In humans, the pineal hormone melatonin can phase shift a number of circadian rhythms (e.g., "fatigue," endogenous melatonin, core body temperature) together with the timing of prolactin secretion. It is uncertain, however, whether melatonin can fully entrain all human circadian rhythms. In this study, the authors investigated the effects of daily melatonin administration on sighted individuals kept in continuous very dim light. A total of 10 normal, healthy males were maintained in two separate groups in partial temporal isolation under constant dim light (< 8 lux) with attenuated sound and ambient temperature variations but with knowledge of clock time for two periods of 30 days. In these circumstances, the majority of individuals free run with a mean period of 24.3 h. In a double-blind, randomized crossover design, subjects received 5 mg melatonin at 20:00 h on Days 1 to 15 (Melatonin 1st) followed by placebo on Days 16 to 30 (Placebo 2nd) or vice versa (Placebo 1st, Melatonin 2nd) during Leg 1 with treatment reversed in Leg 2. The variables measured were melatonin (as 6sulphatoxymelatonin), rectal temperature, activity, and sleep (actigraphy and logs). In the experiment, 9 of the 10 subjects free ran with Placebo 1st, whereas Melatonin 1st stabilized the sleep-wake cycle to 24 h in 8 of 10 individuals. In addition, 2 individuals showed irregular sleep with this treatment. In some subjects, there was a shortening of the period of the temperature rhythm without synchronization. Melatonin 2nd induced phase advances (5 of 9 subjects), phase delays (2 of 9 subjects), and stabilization (2 of 9 subjects) of the sleep-wake cycle with subsequent synchronization to 24 h in the majority of individuals (7 of 9). Temperature continued to free run in 4 subjects. Maximum phase advances in core temperature were seen when the first melatonin treatment was given approximately 2 h after the temperature acrophase. These results indicate that melatonin was able to phase shift sleep and core temperature but was unable to synchronize core temperature consistently. In the majority of subjects, the sleepwake cycle could be synchronized.