L -5-Hydroxytryptophan treatment of sleep terrors in children

Bruni et al., 2004 | Eur J Pediatr | Rct

Citation

Bruni Oliviero, Ferri Raffaele, ... Verrillo Elisabetta. L -5-Hydroxytryptophan treatment of sleep terrors in children. Eur J Pediatr. 2004-Jul;163(7):402-7

Abstract

UNLABELLED: To test the hypothesis that the administration of L -5-hydroxytryptophan (L -5-HTP) might exert beneficial effects on sleep terrors, we carried out an open pharmacological trial in a group of children with sleep terrors compared to a group of children with the same disorder but without L -5-HTP treatment. Participants in the trial were 45 children (34 males and 11 females; age range 3.2-10.6 years), referred to the Sleep Centre of the Department of Developmental Neurology and Psychiatry of the University of Rome "La Sapienza", affected by sleep terrors. All subjects underwent: (1) complete medical and sleep history; (2) complete neurological examination and EEG recording whilst awake and sleeping, (3) a structured sleep diary for 2 months, (4) after 1 month, all subjects were examined again from the clinical and EEG points of view and (5) after 6 months, a structured interview in order to evaluate the clinical outcome. After the first visit, L -5-HTP was administered (2 mg/kg per day) at bedtime to 31 randomly selected patients for a single period of 20 consecutive days. After 1 month of treatment, 29/31 (93.5%) of patients showed a positive response. In the comparison group without drug therapy, after 1 month, the episodes disappeared only in four children (28.6%) while ten children (71.4%) showed the persistence of episodes with the same frequency as before. After 6 months, 26/31 (83.9%) of children treated with L -5HTP were sleep terror-free, while in five children (16.1%) sleep terror episodes persisted. Of the children in the comparison group, ten (71.4%) continued to show sleep terrors at 6-month follow-up. CONCLUSION: to our knowledge, this is the first study demonstrating the efficacy of a new drug treatment for sleep terrors. These results confirm our initial hypothesis and represent evidence that treatment with L -5-hydroxytryptophan is able to modulate the arousal level in children and to induce a long-term improvement of sleep terrors.

Key Findings

to our knowledge, this is the first study demonstrating the efficacy of a new drug treatment for sleep terrors. These results confirm our initial hypothesis and represent evidence that treatment with L -5-hydroxytryptophan is able to modulate the arousal level in children and to induce a long-term improvement of sleep terrors.

Outcomes Measured

• Requires manual extraction

Population

MeSH Terms

• 5-Hydroxytryptophan
• Child
• Child, Preschool
• Female
• Follow-Up Studies
• Humans
• Male
• Night Terrors
• Treatment Outcome

Evidence Classification

• Level: Rct
• Publication Types: Clinical Trial, Comparative Study, Journal Article, Randomized Controlled Trial
• Vertical: 5-htp

Provenance

• PMID: 15146330
• DOI: (not available)
• PMCID: Not in PMC
• Verified: 2026-04-10 via PubMed E-utilities API

Source extracted via PubMed E-utilities API on 2026-04-10