Sleep patterns have been investigated in a "new variant" Phenylketonuric child suffering
from a deficit in dihydropteridin reductase with consequent deficit of 5-HT and dopamine.
This child has been studied in four conditions: when receiving a diet poor in phenylalanine,
after an intraveinous perfusion of phenylalanine and 10 days and 6 months after a
treatment with L-DOPA and 5-HTP. In the three first conditions, no modifications in
the amount of each state of sleep were observed; in the fourth condition the amount
of paradoxical sleep was very low.
PKU "new variant" - sleep patterns - 5-HT - dopamine
