Progesterone-induced changes in sleep in male subjects.
Friess, Elisabeth, Hirokuni Tagaya, Lorenz Trachsel, Florian Holsboer,
and Rainer Rupprecht.
Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Clinical Institute, Department
of Psychiatry, D-80804 Munich, Germany
APStracts 4:0012E, 1997.
Progesterone administration induces a reduction of the vigilance state
in humans during wakefulness. It has been been suggested that this
effect is mediated via neuroactive metabolites that interact with the
-aminobutyric acid (GABAA) receptor complex. To investigate the
effects of progesterone administration on the sleep
electroencephalogram (EEG) in humans we made polysomnographic
recordings, including sleep-stage specific spectral analysis, and
concomitantly measured plasma concentrations of progesterone and its
GABA-active metabolites 3[alpha]-hydroxy-5[alpha]-dihydroprogesterone
(allopregnanolone) and 3[alpha]-hydroxy-5[beta]-dihydroprogesterone
(pregnanolone) in 9 healthy male subjects in a double-blind placebo
-controlled cross-over study. Progesterone administration at 9:30 p.m.
induced a significant increase in the amount of non-REM sleep. The
EEG spectral power during non-REM sleep showed a significant decrease
in the slow wave frequency range (0.4-4.3 Hz), whereas the spectral
power in the higher frequency range (>15 Hz) tended to be
elevated. Some of the observed changes in sleep architecture and
sleep-EEG power spectra are similar to those induced by agonistic
modulators of the GABAA receptor complex and appear to be mediated in
part via the conversion of progesterone into its GABA-active
metabolites.
Received 27 April 1996; accepted in final form 6 January 1997.
APS Manuscript Number E485-6.
Article publication pending Am. J. Physiol. (Endocrinol. Metab.).
ISSN 1080-4757 Copyright 1997 The American Physiological Society.
Published in APStracts on 19 February 1997