The only study to have tackled the question lends support to the idea that the tryptophan depletion test, (TDT) in healthy subjects can mimic depressed patients in terms of neuroendocrine response to serotoninergic challenge; indeed, after performing a TDT in healthy subjects, Coccaro et al82 showed an attenuated prolactin response to fenfluramine. Some

studies83-86 suggest that the TDT might, be a valuable procedure to elicit, typical sleep abnormalities of depression, and, in particular, Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical an increased REM sleep pressure, a condition assumed to be associated with response to antidepressant drugs. It can be thus postulated that the TDT challenges using REM. sleep pressure as a surrogate marker of depression might be useful models for studying the mechanisms of action of antidepressant drugs, since acute or chronic antidepressant drug administration should interfere with these sleep alterations. Indeed, in a recent study, we were able to demonstrate that the effects of the serotonin reuptake Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical inhibitor fluvoxamine on REM sleep were

partially inhibited by TDT challenge. Further developments of this technique will include a study with a specific noradrenergic reuptake inhibitor and the phenylalanine depletion challenge, Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical and an attempt to replicate the sleep animal data suggesting that specific monoamine depletion could identify noradrenaline and serotonin reuptake inhibitors.87 Distinguishing the effects of SNRIs from those of SSRls on the basis of sleep EEG recordings Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), selective noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical (SNRIs), and dual noradrenaline and serotonin reuptake inhibitors (NSRIs) have all shown an REM-suppressant Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical effect after single or repeated administration to healthy volunteers (for recent reviews of the effects of antidepressants on sleep see references 52 and 88). There are also studies suggesting that these three types of antidepressant exhibit alerting effects (ie, tend to enhance vigilance and Dactolisib supplier therefore

induce arousal during sleep), although data are more sparse until for SNRI and particularly NSRI. We suggest that sleep microarchitecture could distinguish SSRI from SNRI. Up to now, ver>’ few studies have investigated the effects of antidepressant drugs on the EEG spectral power values. For instance, the NSRI venlafaxine has been shown to decrease the power of delta and the ta waves and increase fast, beta-activities during non-REM sleep in depressed patients, suggesting that this compound could lighten sleep intensity.89 Other studies90, 91 in depressed patients showed that citalopram decreased the non-REM EEG power in the 8 to 9 Hz range (lower alpha waves) and trazodone decreased the non-REM EEG power in the 13 to 14 Hz range (lower beta waves).