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J Physiol Volume 514, Number 3, 905-914, February 1, 1999
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The Journal of Physiology (1999), 514.3, pp. 905-914
© Copyright 1999 The Physiological Society

Daytime melatonin and temazepam in young adult humans: equivalent effects on sleep latency and body temperatures

Saul S. Gilbert, Cameron J. van den Heuvel and Drew Dawson

The University of South Australia, Centre for Sleep Research, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woodville Road, Woodville, South Australia 5011, Australia


As changes in core body temperature are generally associated with concomitant changes in sleep propensity, it is possible that the effects of hypnotic/soporific agents may be related to changes in thermoregulation. Therefore, to increase our knowledge of the mechanisms by which these agents exert their soporific effects, we compared the thermoregulatory and soporific effects of temazepam (20 mg per os (p.o.)) with those of melatonin (5 mg p.o.) when administered at 14.00 h to 20 young healthy adults (13 male, 7 female; age, 23·5 ± 0·4 years).


From 08.00 to 20.30 h, subjects lay in bed, and foot and rectal (Tc) temperatures were recorded. Sleep onset latency (SOL) was measured using 20 min multiple sleep latency tests, performed hourly from 11.00 to 20.00 h, during which time heart rate was recorded.


Compared with placebo, both melatonin and temazepam significantly reduced Tc (-0·17 ± 0·02 and -0·15 ± 0·03 °C, respectively) and SOL (by 4·8 ± 1·49 and 6·5 ± 1·62 min, respectively). Although both treatments significantly increased heat loss, only melatonin demonstrated cardiac effects. Importantly, there was a temporal relationship between minimum SOL and the maximum rate of decline in Tc for both melatonin (r = 0·48) and temazepam (r = 0·44).


A possible role of thermoregulation in sleep initiation is suggested by the similar temporal relationship between Tc and SOL for two different classes of soporific agents.


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