Duloxetine increases stage 3 sleep and suppresses rapid eye movement (REM) sleep in patients with major depression

Sleep studies in patients with major depression receiving the new selective norepinephrine and serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) duloxetine are lacking. Therefore, polysomnography in 10 patients with major depression (7 males, 39.9 ± 7.6 years, HAMD-21 score: 23.6 ± 5.6) was recorded twice, before and after 7–14 days of treatment with duloxetine. Stage 3 sleep significantly (P < 0.01) increased from 21.0 ± 10.7 to 37.4 ± 20.1 min. Rapid eye movement (REM) latency significantly (P < 0.005) increased from 58.5 ± 31.1 to 193.6 ± 72.6 min. REM sleep significantly (P < 0.005) decreased from 94.8 ± 34.5 to 51.5 ± 42.5 min. These results partly differ from those in healthy subjects receiving duloxetine.