Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Narcolepsy is a rare sleep disorder characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness and REM-sleep abnormalities. Lateral hypothalamic hypocretin/orexin neurones are critical for normal wakefulness and energy expenditure, and the reduction of their activity has been linked with narcolepsy. Their activity is inhibited by extracellular glucose and the ‘satiety’ hormone leptin but stimulated by the ’hunger’ hormone ghrelin. Patients with narcolepsy ...