Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0917801 (insomnia)
 10,606 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The aim of this study was to assess whether there is an association between chronic insomnia and the activity of the stress system. Fifteen young adult insomniacs (<40 years) were studied. After an adaptation night, each subject was recorded in the sleep laboratory for three consecutive nights. During this period, 24-hour urine specimens were collected for measurements of urinary free cortisol (UFC), catecholamines, and growth hormone (GH). The 24-hour UFC levels were positively correlated with total wake time (p=0.05). In addition, 24-hour urinary levels of catecholamine metabolites, DHPG, and DOPAC were positively correlated with percent stage 1 sleep (p<0.05) and wake time after sleep onset (WTASO) (p<0.05). Norepinephrine tended to correlate positively with percent stage 1 sleep (p=0.063) and WTASO (p=0.074), and negatively with percent slow-wave sleep (p=0.059). Twenty-four-hour urinary GH excretion was detectable in only three insomniacs, two of whom had low indices of sleep disturbance. We conclude that, in chronic insomnia, the activity of both limbs of the stress system (i.e., the HPA axis and the sympathetic system) relates positively to the degree of objective sleep disturbance.
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PMID:Chronic insomnia and activity of the stress system: a preliminary study. 972 Aug 52

Through a highly divergent efferent projection system, the locus coeruleus-noradrenergic system supplies norepinephrine throughout the central nervous system. State-dependent neuronal discharge activity of locus coeruleus neurons has long-suggested a role of this system in the induction of an alert waking state. More recent work supports this hypothesis, demonstrating robust wake-promoting actions of the locus coeruleus-noradrenergic system. Norepinephrine enhances arousal, in part, via actions of beta- and alpha1-receptors located within multiple subcortical structures, including the general regions of the medial septal area and the medial preoptic areas. Recent anatomical studies suggest that arousal-enhancing actions of norepinephrine are not limited to the locus coeruleus system and likely include the A1 and A2 noradrenergic cell groups. Thus, noradrenergic modulation of arousal state involves multiple noradrenergic systems acting within multiple subcortical regions. Pharmacological studies indicate that the combined actions of these systems are necessary for the sustained maintenance of arousal levels associated with spontaneous waking. Enhanced arousal state is a prominent aspect of both stress and psychostimulant drug action and evidence indicates that noradrenergic systems likely play an important role in both stress-related and psychostimulant-induced arousal. These and other observations suggest that the dysregulation of noradrenergic neurotransmission could well contribute to the dysregulation of arousal associated with a variety of behavioral disorders including insomnia and stress-related disorders.
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PMID:Noradrenergic modulation of arousal. 1819 83