Biorhythm of core temperature in depressive and non-depressive alcoholics

Core temperature was longitudinally evaluated during the day- and nighttime in six non-depressive and in four depressive alcoholics who had been abstaining from alcoholic beverages. The least squares spectrum method was employed for detecting the periods and acrophase of the circadian rhythm of core temperature. Although normal periods were observed in all the patients throughout the study, an abnormal acrophase was found in many patients, especially in depressive alcoholics. On the 3rd and 4th days after alcohol withdrawal, all of the four depressive alcoholics showed a phase advance of the circadian rhythm, and three patients of the six non-depressive alcoholics exhibited an abnormal acrophase. On the 21st and 22nd days after alcohol withdrawal, a normal acrophase was observed in two patients of the four depressives and in four of the six non-depressives. The mean core temperature was higher in the depressives than in the non-depressives on the third and fourth days after alcohol withdrawal.