Am J Psychiatry 1989; 146:1037-1040
Copyright © 1989 by American Psychiatric Association
Abnormal melatonin response to 5-methoxypsoralen in dementia
E Souetre, E Salvati, B Krebs, JL Belugou and G Darcourt
Clinique de Psychiatrie et de Psychologie Medicale, Hopital Pasteur, Nice, France.
The authors investigated the melatonin response to 5-methoxypsoralen in 39
healthy adult and elderly subjects and in 13 demented, 13 depressed, and 13
schizophrenic inpatients. Subjects' plasma melatonin levels were evaluated
before they took single, oral 40-mg doses of 5- methoxypsoralen and 3 hours
afterward. The preliminary results indicate that the melatonin response of
the pineal gland to 5-methoxypsoralen is reduced in demented patients
compared to that in healthy elderly subjects. Depressed and schizophrenic
patients had a normal melatonin response to the drug. This finding suggests
that the pineal gland may be functionally impaired in dementia but not in
depression.
