Correlation of melatonin and TNF-α levels with characteristics of sleep in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

Specific immune and neuroendocrine factors are considered in the pathogenic mechanisms of sleep disorders in RA. The aim was to investigate the nature of the correlation between sleep disorders and levels of serum melatonin and TNF-α in RA patients. Methods and results. 105 patients and 30 healthy control subjects were examined in the study. Investigation of sleep disorders was conducted by semi-structured clinical interview using the Insomnia severity index (ISI) and with the visual analogue scale (VAS) of sleep disorders. It was found significant differences in the metabolism of melatonin and TNF-α in healthy and RA patients with different variants of insomnia (p <0.01). Differences between the levels of TNF-α and all variants of insomnia (p <0.05) were identified. Conclusion. The lack of a direct relations between melatonin and insomnia in patients with RA indicates complex multifactorial nature of sleep disorders in this pathology.

Keywords

• Melatonin
• Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha
• Sleep Disorders
• Rheumatoid Arthritis