Journal of Clinical & Experimental Pharmacology

Abstract

Melatonin Release and Polysomnographic Architecture in Patients with Mild to Moderate Depression

Jyothi I, Ilango K, Satish Kumar RC, Vasanth K and Dubey GP

Objectives: The association of serum melatonin levels with polysomnographic sleep parameters were investigated in mild to moderate depressed patients.

Methods: Seventy patients with mild to moderate depression (mean age 49.43 ± 6.70) were selected in the study. All patients underwent two successive overnight polysomnography recordings. Venous blood samples were obtained from the patients of two groups at 21:00 h and 6:00 h before and after performing polysomnography. Serum was separated and kept at -80°C. The serum melatonin levels were analysed using microplate reader.

Results: Early morning release of melatonin was significantly correlated with sleep latency (P=0.0026, r=0.4630), [CI=0.3249 to 1.426], sleep efficiency (P=0.049, r=0.3123), [CI=0.01253 to 0.3180] and total sleep time (P=0.006, r=0.516), [CI=0.04966 to 0.1664] when compared to night time release.

Conclusions: Our results showed melatonin in mild to moderate depressed patients, not only found lower nighttime levels of serum melatonin, but also found a phase shift in depressed patients.