This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit a related Letter to the Editor Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Copyright Permission Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Frieboes, R.-M. Articles by Steiger, A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Frieboes, R.-M. Articles by Steiger, A.

Enhanced Slow Wave Sleep in Patients with Prolactinoma

Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Ralf-Michael Frieboes, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Kraepelinstrasse 10, D-80804 Munich/Germany. E-mail: frieboes{at}mpipsykl.mpg.de

Bidirectional interactions between nocturnal hormone secretion and sleep regulation are well established. In particular, a link between PRL and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep has been hypothesized. Short-term administration of PRL and even long-term hyperprolactinemia in animals increases REM sleep. Furthermore, sleep disorders are frequent symptoms in patients with endocrine diseases. We compared the sleep electroencephalogram of seven drug-free patients with prolactinoma (mean PRL levels 1450 ± 1810 ng/mL; range between 146 and 5106 ng/mL) with that of matched controls. The patients had secondary hypogonadism but no other endocrine abnormalities. They spent more time in slow wave sleep than the controls (79.4 ± 54.4 min in patients vs. 36.6 ± 23.5 min in controls, P < 0.05). REM sleep variables did not differ between the samples. Our data suggest that chronic excessive enhancement of PRL levels exerts influences on the sleep electroencephalogram in humans. Our result, which seems to be in contrast to the enhanced REM sleep under hyperprolactinemia in rats, leads to the hypothesis that both slow wave sleep and REM sleep can be stimulated by PRL. These findings are in accordance with reports of good sleep quality in patients with prolactinoma, which is in contrast to that of patients with other endocrine diseases.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. A. van der Klaauw, O. M. Dekkers, A. M. Pereira, K. W. van Kralingen, and J. A. Romijn Increased Daytime Somnolence despite Normal Sleep Patterns in Patients Treated for Nonfunctioning Pituitary Macroadenoma J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., October 1, 2007; 92(10): 3898 - 3903. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				F. Obal Jr, F. Garcia-Garcia, B. Kacsoh, P. Taishi, S. Bohnet, N. D. Horseman, and J. M. Krueger Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Is Reduced in Prolactin-Deficient Mice J. Neurosci., November 2, 2005; 25(44): 10282 - 10289. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. C. Weikel, A. Wichniak, M. Ising, H. Brunner, E. Friess, K. Held, S. Mathias, D. A. Schmid, M. Uhr, and A. Steiger Ghrelin promotes slow-wave sleep in humans Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab, February 1, 2003; 284(2): E407 - E415. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]