The role of indole-pyruvic acid in hypnotics. Preliminary data

Six patients (all males, mean age 39,5 years) complaining of moderate insomnia were treated for 13 consecutive nights, in a single blind protocol, as follows: placebo for three nights, 200 mg IPA for three nights, 100 mg indole - 3 pyruvic acid (IPA) for three nights, 100 mg IPA for two nights and placebo for two nights. After the first two nights adapting, the patients on nights 3 were polygraphically recorded in order to obtain their sleep baseline parameters. Subsequently they were recorded on nights 6, 9, 11 and 13. The following parameters were evaluated: total sleep time (TST), sleep efficiency, sleep latency, slow wave sleep latency, REM sleep latency, number of arousals (>1 min), percentage and duration of wakefulness after sleep onset, percentage and duration of sleep stage 1, 2, 3, 4 and REM. At the end of 13 days, TST, duration of sleep stage 2 and total non-REM were significantly increased when compared with baseline. TST duration of stage 2 and total non-REM on complication were significantly decreased when compared with after 200 mg IPA (night 9). The results suggest an action of IP on human sleep similar to that of exogenous melatonin and L-tryptophan, thus confirming that IPA could be used to increase serotonin and melatonin turnover