State dependent excitability changes of spinal flexor reflex in patients with restless legs syndrome secondary to...

Periodic limb movement in sleep (PLMS) is a common dysfunction of motor control during sleep, occurring either in isolation or associated with a variety of neurological disorders including restless legs syndrome (RLS). Although the PLMS generators have not been established, their occurrence in patients with spinal cord injury and their clinical resemblance to the spinal cord flexor withdrawal reflex (FR) suggest that PLMS may originate in the circuitry that mediates the FR. The significantly increased spinal cord excitability noted in primary RLS/PLMS patients may play an important role in the pathophysiology of primary RLS. The aim of this study is to establish whether the enhanced spinal cord excitability, which is represented by a lower threshold and/or greater spatial spread of the FR, is also true for the RLS/PLMS patients whose RLS is secondary to chronic renal failure (CRF).

Twenty patients with RLS/PLMS secondary to CRF have been compared with matched controls according to the state dependent changes in FR excitability. All patients met the diagnostic criteria for RLS and PLMS. They had CRF for 5.2+/-3.5 years, and were under the hemodialysis treatment. Twenty healthy, age and sex matched subjects were tested as controls. The electrophysiological testing of the FR was performed during wakefulness (9:30-10:30 p.m.) and sleep (beginning of stage II, the first sleep cycle).

A significant increase in FR excitability was found in RLS/PLMS patients with CRF. This abnormality was prominent during sleep, which was also true for the primary RLS.

Our results suggest that similar neuronal pathways are involved in primary and secondary RLS/PLMS patients. Our results also support that RLS/PLMS and FR share a common spinal mechanism.