Biomedical subjects

E B Klerman

Publications and source records attributed to E B Klerman.

16 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2002

Photic resetting of the human circadian pacemaker in the absence of conscious vision.

Ocular light exposure patterns are the primary stimuli for entraining the human circadian system to the local 24-h day. Many totally blind persons cannot use these stimuli and, therefore, have circadian rhythms that are not entrained. However, a few otherwise totally blind persons retain the ability to suppress plasma melatonin concentrations after ocular light exposure, probably using a neural pathway that includes the site of the human circadian pacemaker, suggesting that light information is reaching this site. To test definitively whether ocular light exposure could affect the circadian pacemaker of some blind persons and whether melatonin suppression in response to bright light correlates with light-induced phase shifts of thecircadian system, the authorsperformed experiments with 5 totally blind volunteers using a protocol known to induce phase shifts of the circadian pacemaker in sighted individuals. In the 2 blind individuals who maintained light-induced melatonin suppression, the circadian system was shifted by appropriately timed bright-light stimuli. These data demonstrate that light can affect the circadian pacemaker of some totally blind individuals--either by altering the phase of the circadian pacemaker or by affecting its amplitude. They are consistent with data from animal studies demonstrating that there are different neural pathways and retinal cells that relay photic information to the brain: one for conscious light perception and the other for non-image-forming functions.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

Circadian rhythms of women with fibromyalgia.

Fibromyalgia syndrome is a chronic and debilitating disorder characterized by widespread nonarticular musculoskeletal pain whose etiology is unknown. Many of the symptoms of this syndrome, including difficulty sleeping, fatigue, malaise, myalgias, gastrointestinal complaints, and decreased cognitive function, are similar to those observed in individuals whose circadian pacemaker is abnormally aligned with their sleep-wake schedule or with local environmental time. Abnormalities in melatonin and cortisol, two hormones whose secretion is strongly influenced by the circadian pacemaker, have been reported in women with fibromyalgia. We studied the circadian rhythms of 10 women with fibromyalgia and 12 control healthy women. The protocol controlled factors known to affect markers of the circadian system, including light levels, posture, sleep-wake state, meals, and activity. The timing of the events in the protocol were calculated relative to the habitual sleep-wake schedule of each individual subject. Under these conditions, we found no significant difference between the women with fibromyalgia and control women in the circadian amplitude or phase of rhythms of melatonin, cortisol, and core body temperature. The average circadian phases expressed in hours posthabitual bedtime for women with and without fibromyalgia were 3:43 +/- 0:19 and 3:46 +/- 0:13, respectively, for melatonin; 10:13 +/- 0:23 and 10:32 +/- 0:20, respectively for cortisol; and 5:19 +/- 0:19 and 4:57 +/- 0:33, respectively, for core body temperature phases. Both groups of women had similar circadian rhythms in self-reported alertness. Although pain and stiffness were significantly increased in women with fibromyalgia compared with healthy women, there were no circadian rhythms in either parameter. We suggest that abnormalities in circadian rhythmicity are not a primary cause of fibromyalgia or its symptoms.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

Absence of an increase in the duration of the circadian melatonin secretory episode in totally blind human subjects.

The daily rhythm of melatonin influences multiple physiological measures, including sleep tendency, circadian rhythms, and reproductive function in seasonally breeding mammals. The biological signal for photoperiodic changes in seasonally breeding mammals is a change in the duration of melatonin secretion, which in a natural environment reflects the different durations of daylight across the year, with longer nights leading to a longer duration of melatonin secretion. These seasonal changes in the duration of melatonin secretion do not simply reflect the known acute suppression of melatonin secretion by ocular light exposure, but also represent long-term changes in the endogenous nocturnal melatonin episode that persist in constant conditions. As the eyes of totally blind individuals do not transmit ocular light information, we hypothesized that the duration of the melatonin secretory episode in blind subjects would be longer than those in sighted individuals, who are exposed to light for all their waking hours in an urban environment. We assessed the melatonin secretory profile during constant posture, dim light conditions in 17 blind and 157 sighted adults, all of whom were healthy and using no prescription or nonprescription medications. The duration of melatonin secretion was not significantly different between blind and sighted individuals. Healthy blind individuals after years without ocular light exposure do not have a longer duration of melatonin secretion than healthy sighted individuals.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2001

Circadian phase resetting in older people by ocular bright light exposure.

BACKGROUND: Aging is associated with frequent complaints about earlier bedtimes and waketimes. These changes in sleep timing are associated with an earlier timing of multiple endogenous rhythms, including core body temperature (CBT) and plasma melatonin, driven by the circadian pacemaker. One possible cause of the age-related shift of endogenous circadian rhythms and the timing of sleep relative to clock time is a change in the phase-shifting capacity of the circadian pacemaker in response to the environmental light-dark cycle, the principal synchronizer of the human circadian system. METHODS: We studied the response of the circadian system of 24 older men and women and 23 young men to scheduled exposure to ocular bright light stimuli. Light stimuli were 5 hours in duration, administered for 3 consecutive days at an illuminance of approximately 10,000 lux. Light stimuli were scheduled 1.5 or 3.5 hours after the CBT nadir to induce shifts of endogenous circadian pacemaker to an earlier hour (phase advances) or were scheduled 1.5 hours before the CBT nadir to induce shifts to a later hour (phase delays). The rhythms of CBT and plasma melatonin assessed under constant conditions served as markers of circadian phase. RESULTS: Bright light stimuli elicited robust responses of the circadian timing system in older people; both phase advances and phase delays were induced. The magnitude of the phase delays did not differ significantly between older and younger individuals, but the phase advances were significantly attenuated in older people. CONCLUSIONS: The attenuated response to light stimuli that induce phase advances does not explain the advanced phase of the circadian pacemaker in older people. The maintained responsiveness of the circadian pacemaker to light implies that scheduled bright light exposure can be used to treat circadian phase disturbances in older people.

Adult↗

PubMed2000

EEG delta activity during undisturbed sleep in the squirrel monkey.

The squirrel monkey (Saimiri sciureus) exhibits a robust daily rhythm of sleep-wakefulness that is under circadian control, but the nature of homeostatic sleep regulation in this diurnal primate is poorly understood. Since delta frequency (0.5-2.0 Hz) activity in the electroencephalogram (EEG) during non-Rapid Eye Movement (NREM) sleep is thought to reflect homeostatic factors contributing to sleep tendency, we measured EEG delta power density and slow wave incidence and amplitude during NREM sleep during spontaneous sleep, occurring when monkeys were housed undisturbed in a 24-hour light-dark (LD) cycle and in constant light (LL). In LD and LL conditions, monkeys exhibited circadian rhythms in delta power density, wave incidence and wave amplitude that peaked in the middle of the subjective night, several hours after consolidated sleep onset. These results differ from predictions of a purely homeostatic model of sleep that would include maximal levels of delta activity at sleep onset.

Animals↗

PubMed1999

Circadian and homeostatic influences on sleep in the squirrel monkey: sleep after sleep deprivation.

A series of sleep deprivation (SD) experiments were performed to examine the relative influence of circadian and homeostatic factors on the timing of sleep in squirrel monkeys free-running in constant illumination. All SDs started at the beginning of subjective night and lasted 0, 1/4, 1/2, 1, 1 1/4, or 1 1/2 circadian cycles. These six lengths represented three pairs: (0.1), (1/4, 1 1/4), (1/2, 1 1/2). Within each pair, SD ended at the same circadian phase but differed by one circadian cycle in duration. Both before and after SD, consolidated sleep (CS) episodes occurred predominantly during subjective night, even after long SDs ending at the beginning of subjective day. CS duration was strongly influenced by circadian phase but had no overall correlation with prior wake duration. Sleep loss incurred during SDs longer than 1/4 cycle was only partially recovered over the next two circadian cycles, though total sleep duration was closer to baseline levels after the second circadian cycle after SD. There was a trend toward a positive correlation between prior wake duration and the amount of NREM and delta activity measures during subjective day. Delta activity was not increased in the first 2 hours of CS after the SD. Relatively high levels of delta activity occurred immediately after the SD ended and again at the time of baseline CS onset. These data indicate that the amount of sleep and delta activity after SD in squirrel monkeys is weakly dependent on prior wake duration. Circadian factors appear to dominate homeostatic processes in determining the timing, duration and content of sleep in these diurnal primates.

Animals↗

PubMed1999

Do plasma melatonin concentrations decline with age?

PURPOSE: Numerous reports that secretion of the putative sleep-promoting hormone melatonin declines with age have led to suggestions that melatonin replacement therapy be used to treat sleep problems in older patients. We sought to reassess whether the endogenous circadian rhythm of plasma melatonin concentration changes with age in healthy drug-free adults. METHODS: We analyzed the amplitude of plasma melatonin profiles during a constant routine in 34 healthy drug-free older subjects (20 women and 14 men, aged 65 to 81 years) and compared them with 98 healthy drug-free young men (aged 18 to 30 years). RESULTS: We could detect no significant difference between a healthy and drug-free group of older men and women as compared to one of young men in the endogenous circadian amplitude of the plasma melatonin rhythm, as described by mean 24-hour average melatonin concentration (70 pmol/liter vs 73 pmol/liter, P = 0.97), or the duration (9.3 hours vs 9.1 hours, P = 0.43), mean (162 pmol/liter vs 161 pmol/liter, P = 0.63), or integrated area (85,800 pmol x min/liter vs 86,700 pmol x min/liter, P = 0.66) of the nocturnal peak of plasma melatonin. CONCLUSION: These results do not support the hypothesis that reduction of plasma melatonin concentration is a general characteristic of healthy aging. Should melatonin replacement therapy or melatonin supplementation prove to be clinically useful, we recommend that an assessment of endogenous melatonin be carried out before such treatment is used in older patients.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

Linear demasking techniques are unreliable for estimating the circadian phase of ambulatory temperature data.

Clinical investigators often use ambulatory temperature monitoring to assess the endogenous phase and amplitude of an individual's circadian pacemaker for diagnostic and research purposes. However, an individual's daily schedule includes changes in levels of activity, in posture, and in sleep-wake state, all of which are known to have masking or evoked effects on core body temperature (CBT) data. To compensate for or to correct these masking effects, many investigators have developed "demasking" techniques to extract the underlying circadian phase and amplitude data. However, the validity of these methods is uncertain. Therefore, the authors tested a variety of analytic methods on two different ambulatory data sets from two different studies in which the endogenous circadian pacemaker was not synchronized to the sleep-wake schedule. In both studies, circadian phase estimates calculated from CBT collected when each subject was ambulatory (i.e., free to perform usual daily activities) were compared to those calculated during the same study when the same subject's activities were controlled. In the first study, 24 sighted young and older subjects living on a 28-h scheduled "day" protocol were studied for approximately 21 to 25 cycles of 28-h each. In the second study, a blind man whose endogenous circadian rhythms were not synchronized to the 24-h day despite his maintenance of a regular 24-h sleep-wake schedule was studied for more than 80 consecutive 24-h days. During both studies, the relative phase of the endogenous (circadian) and evoked (scheduled activity-rest) components of the ambulatory temperature data changed progressively and relatively slowly, enabling analysis of the CBT rhythm at nearly all phase relationships between the two components. The analyses of the ambulatory temperature data demonstrate that the masking of the CBT rhythm evoked by changes in activity levels, posture, or sleep-wake state associated with the evoked schedule of activity and rest can significantly obscure the endogenous circadian component of the signal, the object of study. In addition, the masking effect of these evoked responses on temperature depends on the circadian phase at which they occur. These nonlinear interactions between circadian phase and sleep-wake schedule render ambulatory temperature data unreliable for the assessment of endogenous circadian phase. Even when proposed algebraic demasking techniques are used in an attempt to reveal the endogenous temperature rhythm, the phase estimates remain severely compromised.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1999

Commentary: model building, quantitative testing, and model comparison.

The final goal is to create mathematical models that are based on our current knowledge of the underlying physiology and that explain all of the experimental data available. To do this, we suggest a consideration of several potential mathematical structures in the formulation of models and the formal comparison of these various structures with other models in the literature. However, when making these comparisons, one must pay careful attention to the systems being modeled and the data sets chosen to represent those systems.

Data Interpretation, Statistical↗

PubMed1999

Circadian and sleep-dependent regulation of hormone release in humans.

Daily oscillations characterize the release of nearly every hormone. The circadian pacemaker, located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus, generates circadian, approximately 24-hour rhythms in many physiologic functions. However, the observed hormonal oscillations do not simply reflect the output of this internal clock. Instead, daily hormonal profiles are the product of a complex interaction between the output of the circadian pacemaker, periodic changes in behavior, light exposure, neuroendocrine feedback mechanisms, gender, age, and the timing of sleep and wakefulness. The interaction of these factors can affect hormonal secretory pulse frequency and amplitude, with each endocrine system differentially affected by these factors. This chapter examines recent advances in understanding the effects on endocrine rhythms of a number of these factors. Sleep exerts a profound effect on endocrine secretion. Sleep is a dynamic process that is characterized by periodic changes in electrophysiologic activity. These electrophysiologic changes, which are used to mark the state and depth of sleep, are associated with periodic, short-term variations in hormonal levels. The secretion of hormones such as renin and human growth hormone are strongly influenced by sleep or wake state, while melatonin and cortisol levels are relatively unaffected by sleep or wake state. In addition, sleep is associated with changes in posture, behavior, and light exposure, each of which is known to affect endocrine secretion. Furthermore, the tight concordance of habitual sleep and wake times with certain circadian phases has made it difficult to distinguish sleep and circadian effects on these hormones. Specific protocols, designed to extract circadian and sleep information semi-independently, have been developed and have yielded important insights into the effects of these regulatory processes. These results may help to account for changes in endocrine rhythms observed in circadian rhythm sleep disorders, including the dyssomnia of shift work and visual impairment. Yet to be fully investigated are the interactions of these factors with age and gender. Characterization of the factors governing hormone secretion is critical to understanding the temporal regulation of endocrine systems and presents many exciting areas for future research.

Circadian Rhythm↗

PubMed1998

Nonphotic entrainment of the human circadian pacemaker.

In organisms as diverse as single-celled algae and humans, light is the primary stimulus mediating entrainment of the circadian biological clock. Reports that some totally blind individuals appear entrained to the 24-h day have suggested that nonphotic stimuli may also be effective circadian synchronizers in humans, although the nonphotic stimuli are probably comparatively weak synchronizers, because the circadian rhythms of many totally blind individuals "free run" even when they maintain a 24-h activity-rest schedule. To investigate entrainment by nonphotic synchronizers, we studied the endogenous circadian melatonin and core body temperature rhythms of 15 totally blind subjects who lacked conscious light perception and exhibited no suppression of plasma melatonin in response to ocular bright-light exposure. Nine of these fifteen blind individuals were able to maintain synchronization to the 24-h day, albeit often at an atypical phase angle of entrainment. Nonphotic stimuli also synchronized the endogenous circadian rhythms of a totally blind individual to a non-24-h schedule while living in constant near darkness. We conclude that nonphotic stimuli can entrain the human circadian pacemaker in some individuals lacking ocular circadian photoreception.

Adult↗

PubMed1998

Later endogenous circadian temperature nadir relative to an earlier wake time in older people.

The contribution of the circadian timing system to the age-related advance of sleep-wake timing was investigated in two experiments. In a constant routine protocol, we found that the average wake time and endogenous circadian phase of 44 older subjects were earlier than that of 101 young men. However, the earlier circadian phase of the older subjects actually occurred later relative to their habitual wake time than it did in young men. These results indicate that an age-related advance of circadian phase cannot fully account for the high prevalence of early morning awakening in healthy older people. In a second study, 13 older subjects and 10 young men were scheduled to a 28-h day, such that they were scheduled to sleep at many circadian phases. Self-reported awakening from scheduled sleep episodes and cognitive throughput during the second half of the wake episode varied markedly as a function of circadian phase in both groups. The rising phase of both rhythms was advanced in the older subjects, suggesting an age-related change in the circadian regulation of sleep-wake propensity. We hypothesize that under entrained conditions, these age-related changes in the relationship between circadian phase and wake time are likely associated with self-selected light exposure at an earlier circadian phase. This earlier exposure to light could account for the earlier clock hour to which the endogenous circadian pacemaker is entrained in older people and thereby further increase their propensity to awaken at an even earlier time.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1997

Human circadian pacemaker is sensitive to light throughout subjective day without evidence of transients.

Fifty-six resetting trials were conducted across the subjective day in 43 young men using a three-cycle bright-light (approximately 10,000 lx). The phase-response curve (PRC) to these trials was assessed for the presence of a "dead zone" of photic insensitivity and was compared with another three-cycle PRC that had used a background of approximately 150 lx. To assess possible transients after the light stimulus, the trials were divided into 43 steady-state trials, which occurred after several baseline days, and 13 consecutive trials, which occurred immediately after a previous resetting trial. We found that 1) bright light induces phase shifts throughout subjective day with no apparent dead zone; 2) there is no evidence of transients in constant routine assessments of the fitted temperature minimum 1-2 days after completion of the resetting stimulus; and 3) the timing of background room light modulates the resetting response to bright light. These data indicate that the human circadian pacemaker is sensitive to light at virtually all circadian phases, implying that the entire 24-h pattern of light exposure contributes to entrainment.

Adult↗

PubMed1997

The parathyroid hormone circadian rhythm is truly endogenous--a general clinical research center study.

While circulating levels of PTH follow a diurnal pattern, it has been unclear whether these changes are truly endogenous or are dictated by external factors that themselves follow a diurnal pattern, such as sleep-wake cycles, light-dark cycles, meals, or posture. We evaluated the diurnal rhythm of PTH in 11 normal healthy male volunteers in our Intensive Physiologic Monitoring Unit. The first 36 h spent under baseline conditions were followed by 28-40 h of constant routine conditions (CR; enforced wakefulness in the strict semirecumbent position, with the consumption of hourly snacks). During baseline conditions, PTH levels followed a bimodal diurnal rhythm with an average amplitude of 4.2 pg/mL. A primary peak (t1max) occurred at 0314 h, and the secondary peak (t2max) occurred at 1726 h, whereas the primary and secondary nadirs (t1min and t2min) took place, on the average, at 1041 and 2103 h, respectively. This rhythm was preserved under CR conditions, albeit with different characteristics, thus confirming its endogenous nature. The serum ionized calcium (Cai) demonstrated a rhythm in 3 of the 5 subjects studied that varied widely between individuals and did not have any apparent relation to PTH. Urinary calcium/creatinine (UCa/Cr), phosphate/Cr (UPO4/Cr), and sodium/Cr (UNa/Cr) ratios all followed a diurnal rhythm during the baseline day. These rhythms persisted during the CR, although with different characteristics for the first two parameters, whereas that of UNa/Cr was unchanged. In general, the temporal pattern for the UCa/Cr curve was a mirror image of the PTH curve, whereas the UPO4/Cr pattern moved in parallel with the PTH curve. In conclusion, PTH levels exhibit a diurnal rhythm that persists during a CR, thereby confirming that a large component of this rhythm is an endogenous circadian rhythm. The clinical relevance of this rhythm is reflected in the associated rhythms of biological markers of PTH effect at the kidney, namely UCa/Cr and UPO4/Cr.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

Simulations of light effects on the human circadian pacemaker: implications for assessment of intrinsic period.

The sensitivity of the human circadian system to light has been the subject of considerable debate. Using computer simulations of a recent quantitative model for the effects of light on the human circadian system, we investigated these effects of light during different experimental protocols. The results of the simulations indicate that the nonuniform distribution over the circadian cycle of exposure to ordinary room light seen in classical free-run studies, in which subjects select their exposure to light and darkness, can result in an observed period of approximately 25 h, even when the intrinsic period of the subject's endogenous circadian pacemaker is much closer to 24 h. Other simulation results suggest that accurate assessment of the true intrinsic period of the human circadian pacemaker requires low ambient light intensities (approximately 10-15 lx) during scheduled wake episodes, desynchrony of the imposed light-dark cycle from the endogenous circadian oscillator, and a study length of at least 20 days. Although these simulations await further experimental substantiation, they highlight the sensitivity to light of the human circadian system and the potential confounding influence of light on the assessment of the intrinsic period of the circadian pacemaker.

Biological Clocks↗

PubMed1995

Suppression of melatonin secretion in some blind patients by exposure to bright light.

BACKGROUND: Complete blindness generally results in the loss of synchronization of circadian rhythms to the 24-hour day and in recurrent insomnia. However, some blind patients maintain circadian entrainment. We undertook this study to determine whether some blind patients' eyes convey sufficient photic information to entrain the hypothalamic circadian pacemaker and suppress melatonin secretion, despite an apparently complete loss of visual function. METHODS: We evaluated the input of light to the circadian pacemaker by testing the ability of bright light to decrease plasma melatonin concentrations in 11 blind patients with no conscious perception of light and in 6 normal subjects. We also evaluated circadian entrainment over time in the blind patients. RESULTS: Plasma melatonin concentrations decreased during exposure to bright light in three sightless patients by an average (+/- SD) of 69 +/- 21 percent and in the normal subjects by an average of 66 +/- 15 percent. When two of these blind patients were tested with their eyes covered during exposure to light, plasma melatonin did not decrease. The three blind patients reported no difficulty sleeping and maintained apparent circadian entrainment to the 24-hour day. Plasma melatonin concentrations did not decrease during exposure to bright light in seven of the remaining blind patients; in the eighth, plasma melatonin was undetectable. These eight patients reported a history of insomnia, and in four the circadian temperature rhythm was not entrained to the 24-hour day. CONCLUSIONS: The visual subsystem that mediates light-induced suppression of melatonin secretion remains functionally intact in some sightless patients. The absence of photic input to the circadian system thus constitutes a distinct form of blindness, associated with periodic insomnia, that afflicts most but not all patients with no conscious perception of light.

Adolescent↗