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The Effect of Sleep/Wake State on Nocturnal Melatonin Excretion
Author(s) -
Morris Mary,
Lack Leon,
Barrett Judy
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
journal of pineal research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.881
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1600-079X
pISSN - 0742-3098
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-079x.1990.tb00701.x
Subject(s) - melatonin , nocturnal , excretion , sleep (system call) , wake , circadian rhythm , medicine , endocrinology , physics , computer science , operating system , thermodynamics
Twenty‐four hour patterns of urinary 6‐sulphatoxymelatonin excretion were monitored in eight healthy adult subjects in two bed rest constant routines, one with normal nocturnal sleep and one with continuous wakefulness. The implementation of dim light “constant routines” enabled the effect of the sleep wake/state on melatonin to be tested without the confounding effects of body activity and normal room lighting. In both conditions 6‐sulphatoxymelatonin excretion was significantly higher during the nighttime hours (2200‐1000) than during the daytime hours (1000‐2200) producing averages of 80% and 78.5% of the total 24 hour output in the sleep and wakeful conditions, respectively. The large differences between subjects in nocturnal melatonin excretion (38 to 150 nmol) were highly consistent between the two conditions. There were no differences between the nocturnal wakeful and sleep conditions in total nighttime melatonin excretion nor in the nighttime percentage of the 24 hour total melatonin excretions. Therefore, the sleep/wake state alone had no effect on nocturnal melatonin excretion. On the other hand, a significant correlation between the nighttime melatonin percentage and sleep length suggested the need to investigate further the relation between the amplitude of the melatonin circadian rhythm and sleep length and quality.