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Patients with intractable epilepsy have low melatonin, which increases following seizures

From the Department of Neurology (Drs. Bazil, Short, and Crispin) and Pharmacology (Dr. Zheng), Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Carl W. Bazil, the Neurological Institute, 710 West 168th Street, New York, NY 10032; e-mail: cwb11{at}columbia.edu

Melatonin, which is used to treat sleep disorders, has anticonvulsant properties. The authors measured salivary melatonin and cortisol, at baseline and following seizures, in patients with intractable temporal lobe epilepsy and controls. Melatonin was reduced in patients with epilepsy at baseline compared with controls, and increased threefold following seizures. Cortisol also increased following seizures. Patients with intractable epilepsy have low baseline melatonin levels that increase dramatically following seizures.