Sleep disturbances are prevalent in both patients with pituitary insufficiency and with depression. The role of corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH), involved in sleep regulation, has not been fully clarified. Pituitary insufficiency is an ideal model for studying sleep-endocrine effects since no consecutive hormone releases and feedback effects occur after hormone administration. 11 male patients with a chronic insufficiency of the anterior pituitary gland (PI) and under stable hormonal substitution were studied during three consecutive nights in the sleep laboratory. The first night served for adapting to laboratory setting, during the second night placebo was administered and during the third night 4 × 50 μg CRH were injected in pulsatile fashion. Sleep parameters were additionally compared with those of 15 healthy male controls (C) and 15 male patients with depression (D). CRH administration was associated with a numerical increase of wake time (115 ± 15 to 131 ± 13 min) and a decrease of REM sleep (89 ± 8 to 80 ± 8 min), REM latency (69 ± 14 to 55 ± 9 min) and slow wave sleep (66 ± 16 to 57 ± 15 min). Yet, none of these changes reached statistical significance. PI showed a worse sleep profile as compared to both control groups, e.g. indicated by a significantly lower sleep efficiency index (PI:0.80 ± 0.03 vs. C:0.94 ± 0.01 vs. D:0.87 ± 0.03). In conclusion sleep-EEG changes after CRH in PI patients resemble those found in in part in patients with depression. Sleep in anterior pituitary insufficiency was impaired despite full hormonal substitution possibly suggesting an alteration of the receptor organisation of brain structures involved in sleep regulation.

睡眠障碍在垂体功能不全和抑郁症患者中都很普遍。促肾上腺皮质激素释放激素 (CRH) 参与睡眠调节的作用尚未完全阐明。垂体功能不全是研究睡眠内分泌效应的理想模型，因为在激素给药后不会发生连续的激素释放和反馈效应。在睡眠实验室连续三个晚上对 11 名患有慢性垂体前叶 (PI) 功能不全且处于稳定激素替代状态的男性患者进行了研究。第一晚用于适应实验室环境，第二晚给予安慰剂，第三晚以脉动方式注射 4 × 50 μg CRH。睡眠参数还与 15 名健康男性对照 (C) 和 15 名抑郁症男性患者 (D) 进行了比较。CRH 给药与唤醒时间（115 ± 15 至 131 ± 13 分钟）的数值增加和 REM 睡眠（89 ± 8 至 80 ± 8 分钟）、REM 潜伏期（69 ± 14 至 55 ± 9 分钟）的减少有关和慢波睡眠（66 ± 16 到 57 ± 15 分钟）。然而，这些变化都没有达到统计学意义。与两个对照组相比，PI 显示出更差的睡眠状况，例如由显着降低的睡眠效率指数表示（PI：0.80 ± 0.03 对比 C：0.94 ± 0.01 对比 D：0.87 ± 0.03）。总之，PI 患者 CRH 后睡眠脑电图的变化与抑郁症患者的部分相似。