Nocturnal melatonin regulation in post-traumatic vegetative state: A possible role for melatonin supplementation?

Circadian rhythms were recently proposed as a measure of physiological state and prognosis in disorders of consciousness (DOC). So far, melatonin regulation was never assessed in vegetative state (VS). Aim of our research was to investigate the nocturnal melatonin levels and light-induced melatonin suppression in a cohort of VS patients. We assessed six consecutive patients (four men, age 33.3\u2009\ub1\u20099.3 years) with post-traumatic VS and nine age-matched healthy volunteers (five men, age 34.3\u2009\ub1\u20098.9 years) on two consecutive nights: one baseline and one light exposure night. During baseline, night subjects were in bed in a dim (