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Plasma melatonin levels were measured at three-hourly intervals over 24 hours in 11 women with untreated anorexia nervosa, and in nine healthy women of normal weight. The circadian rhythm was unaltered but the nocturnal secretion of melatonin was significantly greater in anorectics. It is possible that this was related to nocturnal hypoglycaemia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urinary 6-sulphatoxymelatonin (alpha MT6s) excretion was measured after one day and one, two and three weeks of desipramine treatment in eight depressed patients. There was significant increase in the urinary excretion of alpha MT6s after one week of treatment, and at no time was there any decrease in alpha MT6s excretion. These findings are opposed to the hypothesis that desipramine reduces noradrenergic neurotransmission in the human pineal. In a further five patients whose depression was resistant to desipramine alone, urinary alpha MT6s excretion was measured during treatment with adjunctive L-triiodothyronine (T3). There was no change in alpha MT6s excretion, and thus the previously reported potentiation of the efficacy of tricyclic antidepressants in combination with T3 does not appear to be mediated through an alteration in noradrenergic neurotransmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To clarify a controversy as to whether melatonin secretion is related to body weight, urinary sulphatoxymelatonin (aMT6s) excretion was estimated in 10 patients with anorexia nervosa before and after weight gain, and compared with 10 age-matched controls. There was no change in aMT6s excretion after weight gain, and no significant difference between the patients and control groups at either point. Significant increases in plasma LH, FSH, and estradiol were detected after weight gain in anorexic patients, independent of aMT6s excretion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depressed patients were carefully matched in pairs with normal subjects for the variables which are known to influence the secretion of melatonin in humans. In contrast to the previous literature, nocturnal melatonin secretion was not lower in the depressed group than in the normal group, and there was no difference in the timing of secretion; indeed, the trend was for greater melatonin secretion in the depressed group. The results are discussed in relation to previous studies, none of which has been so carefully controlled for the relevant variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on the efficiency of neuroendocrine rhythms for patients suffering from the Kleine-Levin Syndrome. This syndrome has been previously described as a periodic somnolence and morbid hunger. It occurs in late adolescent males and seldom in females of the same group. The author also presents a case study of a teenage boy who had suffered no previous episodes of psychiatric or neurological disability and eating disorders. In this context, the researchers used the Oxford ambulatory EEG monitoring system. It has been found that episodes of the syndrome were not caused by a gross dysfunction of the biological clock.

Melatonin and cortisol values in plasma were measured hourly over 24 hours in six depressed patients and six normal volunteers before treatment and after one and three weeks of treatment with desipramine. The normal volunteers were further tested one week after withdrawal of desipramine. The mydriatic effects of tyramine and phenylephrine eye drops were also recorded in the normal volunteers. In neither group of subjects did desipramine treatment reduce melatonin secretion, suggesting that functionally significant down-regulation of beta andrenoceptors was not caused by this treatment. Melatonin secretion was significantly increased after three weeks of treatment in depressed patients. This increase was not found in normal subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]