Cerebrospinal Fluid Orexin A Levels and Autonomic Function in Kleine-Levin Syndrome

Kleine-Levin syndrome (KLS) is a rare disorder of relapsing sleepiness. The hypothesis was that the syndrome is related to a change in the vigilance peptide orexin A.

From 2002 to 2013, 57 patients with relapsing hypersomnolence were clinically assessed in a referral academic center in Beijing, China, and 44 (28 males and 16 females; mean age 18.3 ± 8.9 y (mean ± standard deviation, range 9-57 y) were determined to have clinical and behavioral criteria consistent with KLS. Cerebrospinal fluid orexin A levels and diurnal blood pressure were measured in relapse versus remission in a subgroup of patients.

Presenting symptoms included relapsing or remitting excessive sleepiness-associated parallel complaints of cognitive changes (82%), eating disorders (84%); depression (45%); irritability (36%); hypersexuality (18%); and compulsions (11%). Episodes were 8.2 ± 3.3 days in duration. In relapse, diurnal values for blood pressure and heart rate were lower (P < 0.001). In a subgroup (n = 34), cerebrospinal fluid orexin A levels were ∼31% lower in a relapse versus remission (215.7 ± 81.5 versus 319.2 ± 95.92 pg/ml, P < 0.001); in three patients a pattern of lower levels during subsequent relapses was documented.

There are lower orexin A levels in the symptomatic phase than in remission and a fall and rise in blood pressure and heart rate, suggesting a role for orexin dysregulation in KLS pathophysiology.