Introduction: This study sought to test the association between 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine use, serotonergic function and sleep.
Materials and methods: Ambulatory polysomnography was used to measure three nights sleep in 12 ecstasy users and 12 controls after screening (no intervention), a tryptophan-free amino acid mixture (acute tryptophan depletion (ATD)) and a tryptophan-supplemented control mixture.
Results: ATD significantly decreased rapid eye movement (REM) sleep onset latency, increased the amount of REM sleep and increased the amount of stage 2 sleep in the first 3 h of sleep. There was no difference between ecstasy users' and controls' sleep on the screening night or after ATD.
Discussion: These findings imply that the ecstasy users had not suffered significant serotonergic damage as indexed by sleep.