title: REM sleep dependent release of vasotocin into cerebrospinal fluid of narcoleptics.
abstract: The lumbar cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) collected from 6 narcoleptic patients (three males and three females) aged between 31 and 47 years, as well as from 2 patients having Pickwickian syndromes with hypersomnia attacks (two males), aged 43-51 years, contained relatively high amounts of arginine vasotocin (AVT) only if the CSF was removed after a REM sleep period. The release was not induced by darkness since the same release of AVT occurred when the CSF was removed after a REM sleep period during daylight hours. No detectable AVT levels have been found in the CSF samples of four narcoleptics collected after a NREM period of sleep, either during night or daylight hours. The present results suggest a possible alteration of the rhythmical release of AVT both in narcolepsy and in narcoleptic syndromes.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009290:Narcolepsy / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D010845:Obesity Hypoventilation Syndrome / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D012895:Sleep, REM / Q000502:physiology*; D014668:Vasotocin / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D014851:Wakefulness / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D014668:Vasotocin