Parry B L, Rosenthal N E, Tamarkin L, Wehr T A
Am J Psychiatry. 1987 Jun;144(6):762-6. doi: 10.1176/ajp.144.6.762.
The authors identified a patient who had premenstrual syndrome (late luteal phase dysphoric disorder) only in the fall and winter and was virtually asymptomatic during the spring and summer. On the basis of previous experience with seasonal affective disorder, they treated the patient with bright artificial light, which reversed her symptoms. On subsequent occasions they reversed this treatment effect with oral melatonin administration and found that propranolol and atenolol, beta-antagonists that inhibit the production of melatonin, had a therapeutic effect similar to that of light. They discuss the implications of these findings in relation to the importance of melatonin as a mediator of seasonal rhythms in biology.
作者发现一名患者仅在秋冬季节出现经前综合征（黄体后期烦躁障碍），而在春夏季节几乎没有症状。基于以往对季节性情感障碍的经验，他们用明亮的人造光对该患者进行治疗，症状得以缓解。在随后的情况中，他们通过口服褪黑素逆转了这种治疗效果，并发现普萘洛尔和阿替洛尔这两种抑制褪黑素产生的β受体阻滞剂具有与光相似的治疗效果。他们讨论了这些发现对于褪黑素作为生物季节性节律调节因子重要性的意义。
