Satlin A, Volicer L, Stopa E G, Harper D
Department of Psychiatry, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA 02178, USA.
Neurobiol Aging. 1995 Sep-Oct;16(5):765-71. doi: 10.1016/0197-4580(95)00059-n.
Sleep-wake cycle disturbances suggest that circadian rhythms may be disrupted in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). In this study, we examined the circadian rhythms of core-body temperature and locomotor activity in 28 patients with probable AD and 10 healthy controls. AD patients had higher percent nocturnal activity than controls, corresponding to the clinical picture of fragmented sleep. The amplitude of the activity cycle in the AD patients was lower than that of controls and the acrophase of this cycle in AD patients was 4.5 h later. There was no difference in the amplitude of the core-body temperature circadian rhythm, but AD patients had delayed temperature acrophases. A subgroup of AD patients with large mean time differences between the acrophases of their activity and temperature cycles had lower temperature amplitudes and greater activity during the night. These findings suggest that a subgroup of AD patients with impaired endogenous pacemaker function may have a diminished capacity to synchronize the rhythm of core-body temperature with the circadian cycle of rest-activity. This circadian rhythm dysfunction may partly explain the fragmented nocturnal sleep exhibited by these patients.
睡眠-觉醒周期紊乱表明，阿尔茨海默病（AD）患者的昼夜节律可能受到破坏。在本研究中，我们检测了28例可能患有AD的患者和10名健康对照者的核心体温和运动活动的昼夜节律。AD患者夜间活动百分比高于对照组，这与睡眠片段化的临床表现相符。AD患者活动周期的振幅低于对照组，且该周期的峰值相位在AD患者中延迟了4.5小时。核心体温昼夜节律的振幅没有差异，但AD患者的体温峰值相位延迟。活动和体温周期峰值相位之间平均时间差异较大的AD患者亚组，其体温振幅较低，夜间活动较多。这些发现表明，内源性起搏器功能受损的AD患者亚组可能在使核心体温节律与休息-活动的昼夜周期同步方面能力减弱。这种昼夜节律功能障碍可能部分解释了这些患者夜间睡眠片段化的现象。
