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Daytime melatonin and temazepam in young adult humans: equivalent effects on sleep latency and body temperatures
Author(s) -
Gilbert Saul S.,
Heuvel Cameron J.,
Dawson Drew
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
the journal of physiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.802
H-Index - 240
eISSN - 1469-7793
pISSN - 0022-3751
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-7793.1999.905ad.x
Subject(s) - melatonin , thermoregulation , sleep onset latency , temazepam , hypnotic , placebo , medicine , anesthesia , endocrinology , sleep onset , sleep (system call) , heart rate , insomnia , pharmacology , benzodiazepine , receptor , alternative medicine , pathology , computer science , blood pressure , operating system
1 As changes in core body temperature are generally associated with concomitant changes in sleep propensity, it is possible that the effects of hypnotic/soporific agents may be related to changes in thermoregulation. Therefore, to increase our knowledge of the mechanisms by which these agents exert their soporific effects, we compared the thermoregulatory and soporific effects of temazepam (20 mg per os (p.o.)) with those of melatonin (5 mg p.o.) when administered at 14.00 h to 20 young healthy adults (13 male, 7 female; age, 23·5 ± 0·4 years). 2 From 08.00 to 20.30 h, subjects lay in bed, and foot and rectal ( T c ) temperatures were recorded. Sleep onset latency (SOL) was measured using 20 min multiple sleep latency tests, performed hourly from 11.00 to 20.00 h, during which time heart rate was recorded. 3 Compared with placebo, both melatonin and temazepam significantly reduced T c (‐0·17 ± 0·02 and ‐0·15 ± 0·03 °C, respectively) and SOL (by 4·8 ± 1·49 and 6·5 ± 1·62 min, respectively). Although both treatments significantly increased heat loss, only melatonin demonstrated cardiac effects. Importantly, there was a temporal relationship between minimum SOL and the maximum rate of decline in T c for both melatonin ( r = 0·48) and temazepam ( r = 0·44). 4 A possible role of thermoregulation in sleep initiation is suggested by the similar temporal relationship between T c and SOL for two different classes of soporific agents.