Spinal Cord Injuries
Conditions
Keywords
tetraplegia, spinal cord injury, melatonin, sleep quality, sleepiness
Brief summary
To evaluate the relationship between secretion of melatonin and sleep quality in spinal cord injury patients versus a database of healthy volunteers.
Detailed description
Melatonin is a neurohormone secreted by the pineal gland and excreted by the urinary tract. It has a key role in the synchronisation of circadian rhythms including the sleep wake cycle, with a peak secretion around 03:00. The neural pathway controlling melatonin secretion is long and transits via the thoracic spine. The exact level is not known, but interruption of the connection in patients with lesions of the spinal cord is known to occur. Tetraplegic patients often complain of insomnia, daytime sleepiness and poor sleep quality but the contribution of melatonin levels to sleep quality has not been explored in large studies, although case reports have shown reduced or abolished melatonin secretion and altered melatonin secretion profiles with delayed peak secretion. Paraplegic patients report fewer sleep difficulties and little is known about melatonin secretion in this group. The investigators hypothesize that sleep abnormalities are related to abnormalities in melatonin secretion and that this is in turn related to the level of the spinal cord injury The study aims to explore the profiles of melatonin secretion in patients with spinal cord injuries and comparing melatonin profiles with a database of healthy volunteers. The investigators will further analyse the results looking at the severity of spinal cord injury using the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) and the level of the injury. Outcome measures are melatonin secretion profile, sleep complaints measured using the Pittsburgh scale and daytime sleepiness measured using the Epworth sleep scale.
Interventions
None listed
Sponsors
Centre d'Investigation Clinique et Technologique 805
Study design
Observational model
CASE_CONTROL
Time perspective
PROSPECTIVE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Male or female ≥ 18 years * Spinal cord injury patient * All score AIS * With a chronic lesion (more than 6 months from initial injury) * Signed informed consent
Exclusion criteria
* Pregnant women * Breast feeding women * Refusal to participate at study * Not covered by national health insurance scheme * Patient unable to give informed consent * Transmeridian flight crossing more than 3 time zones in the month preceding the study * Recent treatment with melatonin (\< 1 month) or beta blocker
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Urinary 6-sulfatoxy-melatonin (U6SM) | 24 hours | Urinary 6-sulfatoxy-melatonin (U6SM) will be measured during 24 hours |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Sleep quality | 24 hours | Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index |
| Daytime sleepiness | 24 hours | Epworth Sleepiness Scale |
Countries
France
Outcome results
None listed