This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Reply to article  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on ISI (9)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Psychiatry, Other  • Alert me on articles by topic  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Paul J. Schwartz, MD; Norman E. Rosenthal, MD; Thomas A. Wehr, MD

Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1998;55:897-903.

Background  In patients with seasonal affective disorder, light treatment lowers core temperature during sleep in proportion to its antidepressant efficacy. The regulation of the level of core temperature during sleep is linked with a proportional control thermostat in the central nervous system whose operation appears abnormal in patients with seasonal affective disorder. Because both melatonin and serotonin 1A receptor activation also lower core temperature, we investigated the relationship between (1) endogenous melatonin and core temperature profiles, (2) the proportional control thermostat, and (3) the core hypothermic response to the serotonin 1A receptor partial agonist ipsapirone hydrochloride in patients with seasonal affective disorder and healthy controls.

Methods  Eighteen patients with seasonal affective disorder and 18 controls first completed a 24-hour study in which their melatonin profiles were characterized. Subjects then returned 3 to 5 days later for the first of 2 drug challenges (ipsapirone hydrochloride, 0.3 mg/kg, or placebo), each separated by 3 to 5 days. Overnight rectal and facial temperatures were recorded before and after each drug challenge.

Results  The magnitudes of the core hypothermic responses to ipsapirone were (1) not different between groups and (2) independently correlated with both the levels of the previous nights' core temperature minima (P=.002) and the amounts of nocturnal melatonin secreted (P<.001).

Conclusion  The daytime regulation of core temperature by serotonin 1A receptors appears normal in seasonal affective disorder. The magnitude of serotonin 1A receptor–activated hypothermia is governed by a central nervous system proportional control thermostat whose operation appears modulated by both melatonin and the level of the core temperature minimum.

From the Clinical Psychobiology Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Md.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati     What's this?

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Corticosterone and Activity: The Long Arms of the Clock Talk Back
Buijs and Escobar
Endocrinology 2007;148:5162-5164.
FULL TEXT  

Pharmacokinetic-Pharmacodynamic Modeling of Buspirone and Its Metabolite 1-(2-Pyrimidinyl)-piperazine in Rats
Zuideveld et al.
J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. 2002;303:1130-1137.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

A Competitive Interaction Model Predicts the Effect of WAY-100,635 on the Time Course of R-(+)-8-Hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamino)tetralin-Induced Hypothermia
Zuideveld et al.
J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. 2002;300:330-338.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

A set-point model with oscillatory behavior predicts the time course of 8-OH-DPAT-induced hypothermia
Zuideveld et al.
Am. J. Physiol. Regul. Integr. Comp. Physiol. 2001;281:R2059-R2071.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Seasonal Affective Disorder in Children and Adolescents
Glod and Baisden
J Am Psychiatr Nurses Assoc 1999;5:29-33.