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Updated: Jul 24, 2026

Polygraphic Recording Procedure for Measuring Sleep in Mice
Published on: January 25, 2016
The effect of presynaptic catecholamine depletion on 6-hydroxymelatonin sulfate: a double blind study of
1Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Mayo Clinic and Foundation, Rochester, MN 55905, USA.
Abstract:
Because it is a competitive inhibitor of tyrosine hydroxylase, alpha-methyl-para-tyrosine (AMPT) is used to study psychiatric disorders. Melatonin serves as a biological marker of catecholamine function since its secretion is regulated by noradrenergic neurons via beta-adrenergic receptors in the pineal gland. Ten healthy volunteers were administered AMPT in a double-blind placebo controlled study. When subjects received AMPT, nocturnal 6-hydroxymelatonin sulfate (6-SM) decreased significantly as compared with promethazine (night 1 P=0.002; and night 2 P=0.001). Urinary MHPG also decreased on both study days (DF1,9 F=9.82, GG=0.0121). Nocturnal 6-SM excretion and melatonin secretion correlated highly (r=0.91, P=0.0007). Behavioral ratings did not reveal a difference in symptomatology and did not correlate with changes in 6-SM or MHPG. This study demonstrates in healthy controls that 6-SM reliably reflects presynaptic catecholamine depletion induced by AMPT without the emergence of behavioral symptoms.
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