Disturbed sleep in individuals with idiopathic environmental intolerance attributed to electromagnetic fields (IEI-EMF) : Melatonin assessment as a biological marker

Soafara Andrianome (1, 2) , Laurent Hugueville (3) , René de Seze (1, 2) , Maité Hanot-Roy (1) , Kelly Blazy (1, 2) , Christelle Gamez (1, 2) , Brahim Selmaoui (1, 2)

1 INERIS - Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques
2 PERITOX - Périnatalité et Risques Toxiques - UMR INERIS_I 1
3 ICM - Institut du Cerveau et de la Moëlle Epinière = Brain and Spine Institute

Individuals who suffer from idiopathic environmental intolerance attributed to electromagnetic fields (IEI-EMF) complain of a variety of adverse health effects. Troubled sleep remains a recurrent and common symptom in IEI-EMF individuals. Melatonin, a circadian hormone, plays a major role in the sleep process. In this study, we compared levels of melatonin between a sensitive group (IEI-EMF, n=30) and a non-sensitive control group (non IEI-EMF, n=25) without exposure to electromagnetic sources. Three questionnaires were used to evaluate the subjective quality and sleep quantity: the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and the Spiegel Sleep Inventory. Melatonin was quantified in saliva and its major metabolite 6-sulfatoxymelatonin (aMT6s) in urine. Melatonin levels were compared by a two-way analysis of variance at various times between the control and IEI-EMF group. Despite significantly different sleep scores between the two groups, with a lower score in the IEI-EMF group (P<0.001), no statistical difference was found between the two groups for saliva melatonin (P>0.05) and urine aMT6s (P>0.05).

Mots clés: IDIOPATHIC ENVIRONMENTAL INTOLERANCE; MELATONIN; MARKER; URINE; SALIVA; ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS

Domaines: Toxicologie

Soafara Andrianome, Laurent Hugueville, René de Seze, Maité Hanot-Roy, Kelly Blazy, et al.. Disturbed sleep in individuals with idiopathic environmental intolerance attributed to electromagnetic fields (IEI-EMF) : Melatonin assessment as a biological marker. Bioelectromagnetics, 2016, 37, pp.175-182. ⟨10.1002/bem.21965⟩. ⟨ineris-01862939⟩