Melatonin Secretion and Sleep Quality in Spinal Cord Injury Patients

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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To evaluate the relationship between secretion of melatonin and sleep quality in spinal cord injury patients versus a database of healthy volunteers.

Detailed Description
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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.

Official Title
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Melatonin Secretion and Sleep Quality in Spinal Cord Injury Patients

Conditions
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Spinal Cord Injuries

Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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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

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| spinal cord injury<br>spinal cord injury all scores AIS | |
| Healthy volunteers<br>Healthy volunteers for whom melatonin profiles have been taken and stored in the Lyon endocrinology laboratory's database. No healthy volunteers will be directly recruited for the study. | |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Urinary 6-sulfatoxy-melatonin (U6SM) | Urinary 6-sulfatoxy-melatonin (U6SM) will be measured during 24 hours | 24 hours | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Sleep quality | Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index | 24 hours | 
| Daytime sleepiness | Epworth Sleepiness Scale | 24 hours | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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tetraplegia, spinal cord injury, melatonin, sleep quality, sleepiness