Choi Jeong Woo, Jeong Min Hee, Her Seong Jin, Lee Byeong Uk, Cha Kwang Su, Jung Ki Young, Kim Kyung Hwan
Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Health Science, Yonsei University, Wonju, Korea.
Department of Neurology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
J Clin Neurol. 2017 Oct;13(4):340-350. doi: 10.3988/jcn.2017.13.4.340. Epub 2017 Aug 1.
The purpose of this study was to characterize abnormal cortical activity during sleep in restless legs syndrome (RLS) patients and to determine the effects of treatment with a dopamine agonist. Based on whole-brain electroencephalograms, we attempted to verify alterations in the functional network as well as the spectral power of neural activities during sleep in RLS patients and to determine whether the changes are reversed by treatment with pramipexole.
Twelve drug-naïve RLS patients participated in the study. Overnight polysomnography was performed before and after treatment: the first recording was made immediately prior to administering the first dose of pramipexole, and the second recording was made 12-16 weeks after commencing pramipexole administration. Sixteen age-matched healthy participants served as a control group. The spectral power and interregional phase synchrony were analyzed in 30-s epochs. The functional characteristics of the cortical network were quantified using graph-theory measures.
The delta-band power was significantly increased and the small-world network characteristics in the delta band were disrupted in RLS patients compared to the healthy controls. These abnormalities were successfully treated by dopaminergic medication. The delta-band power was significantly correlated with the RLS severity score in the RLS patients prior to treatment.
Our findings suggest that the spectral and functional network characteristics of neural activities during sleep become abnormal in RLS patients, and these abnormalities can be successfully treated by a dopamine agonist.
本研究旨在描述不宁腿综合征（RLS）患者睡眠期间的异常皮质活动，并确定多巴胺激动剂治疗的效果。基于全脑脑电图，我们试图验证RLS患者睡眠期间功能网络的改变以及神经活动的频谱功率，并确定这些变化是否可通过普拉克索治疗得到逆转。
12名未接受过药物治疗的RLS患者参与了本研究。在治疗前后进行整夜多导睡眠图检查：第一次记录在给予第一剂普拉克索之前立即进行，第二次记录在开始普拉克索给药12 - 16周后进行。16名年龄匹配的健康参与者作为对照组。在30秒的时间段内分析频谱功率和区域间相位同步。使用图论方法量化皮质网络的功能特征。
与健康对照组相比，RLS患者的δ波段功率显著增加，且δ波段的小世界网络特征受到破坏。这些异常通过多巴胺能药物治疗成功得到改善。治疗前RLS患者的δ波段功率与RLS严重程度评分显著相关。
我们的研究结果表明，RLS患者睡眠期间神经活动的频谱和功能网络特征变得异常，且这些异常可通过多巴胺激动剂成功治疗。
