Kühlwein Eva, Hauger Richard L, Irwin Michael R
Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunonology, University of California, Los Angeles, Neuropsychiatric Institute, Los Angeles, California 90095-7057, USA.
Biol Psychiatry. 2003 Dec 15;54(12):1437-43. doi: 10.1016/s0006-3223(03)00005-2.
Alcoholic patients show prominent disturbance of sleep as measured by electroencephalogram, with difficulties in the onset and maintenance of sleep. Given the role of melatonin in the regulation of the sleep-wake cycle, this study examined the relationship between nocturnal expression of melatonin and sleep in alcoholics as compared with control subjects.
Alcoholic patients (n = 11) and comparison control subjects (n = 10) underwent all-night polysomnography and serial blood sampling every 30 min from 10:00 PM to 6:30 AM for measurement of circulating levels of melatonin and cortisol.
Coupled with prolonged sleep latency, alcoholics showed lower levels of melatonin during the early part of the night and a delay in the onset of the nocturnal plateau or peak value of melatonin as compared with control subjects. The nocturnal delay of melatonin correlated with prolonged sleep latency. Circulating levels of cortisol were lower during the early part of the night and higher in the late part of night in the alcoholics as compared with the control subjects.
A delay in the nocturnal rise of melatonin may contribute to disordered sleep in chronic alcoholics, with implications for the use of melatonin in the treatment of insomnia in recovering alcoholics.
通过脑电图测量发现，酒精性患者存在明显的睡眠障碍，入睡和维持睡眠都有困难。鉴于褪黑素在调节睡眠-觉醒周期中的作用，本研究比较了酒精性患者与对照受试者夜间褪黑素表达与睡眠之间的关系。
酒精性患者（n = 11）和对照受试者（n = 10）接受整夜多导睡眠监测，并于晚上10:00至早上6:30每30分钟进行一次系列血样采集，以测量褪黑素和皮质醇的循环水平。
与对照受试者相比，酒精性患者不仅睡眠潜伏期延长，且夜间早期褪黑素水平较低，夜间褪黑素平台期或峰值出现延迟。褪黑素的夜间延迟与延长的睡眠潜伏期相关。与对照受试者相比，酒精性患者夜间早期皮质醇循环水平较低，而夜间晚期较高。
褪黑素夜间升高延迟可能导致慢性酒精性患者睡眠紊乱，这对褪黑素用于治疗戒酒者失眠具有启示意义。
