Abstract
Delayed sleep phase syndrome (DSPS) is a chronic sleep onset insomnia that is caused by a persistent delay of sleep timing. Functional abnormalities of the circadian pacemaker have been assumed to underlie this syndrome, but its detailed pathophysiology has not yet been identified. We studied nine patients with DSPS and 20 healthy controls to compare habitual sleep timings and hormonal rhythms between the groups. Concentrations of serum melatonin, cortisol, and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) were assessed every hour for 26 h under dim light condition. The hormonal rhythms were significantly delayed in patients with DSPS compared with controls, whereas the 24-h amounts of hormonal secretions and the phase relationships between the hormonal rhythms did not differ between the groups. We postulate that sleep-phase delay in patients with DSPS is a consequence of the phase delay of the circadian pacemaker, therefore, suggesting that phase delay in the circadian clock is responsible for this disorder.
Published Version
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