In adults with chronic insomnia, long-term ramelteon treatment consistently reduced sleep onset, with no next-morning residual effects or rebound insomnia or withdrawal symptoms upon discontinuation.
Yamanuchi, and Xenoport; and has participated in speaking engagements supported by Sanofi and Takeda.
SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATIONSObjective: To evaluate efficacy and safety of ramelteon (MT 1 /MT 2 -receptor agonist) in subjects with chronic primary insomnia. Methods: Randomized, multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of nightly ramelteon treatment (8 mg or 16 mg) in adults (N=405) with primary chronic insomnia (DSM-IV-TR). Latency to persistent sleep (LPS), TST, sleep efficiency, wake time after sleep onset, and number of awakenings were measured by polysomnography. Subject-reported measures were also assessed.Results: LPS at Week 1 (primary measure) was significantly shorter with ramelteon 8 mg (32.2 min) or 16 mg (28.9 min) vs placebo (47.9 min; p <0.001). Significant improvements in LPS were maintained at Weeks 3 and 5. TST was significantly longer with both doses of ramelteon at Week 1 (p <0.001) vs placebo. Subject-reported sleep latency was significantly shorter with ramelteon 8 mg at Weeks 1, 3, and 5 (p <0.001) and ramelteon 16 mg at Weeks 1 and 3 (p ≤0.050) vs placebo. Wake time after sleep onset and number of awakenings were not significantly different with ramelteon 8 mg or 16 mg treatment vs placebo. Subjective TST was significantly longer with ramelteon 8 mg at Weeks 1, 3, and 5 (p ≤0.050) and ramelteon 16 mg at Week 1 (p = 0.003) vs placebo. Ramelteon had no clinically meaningful effect on sleep architecture, next-morning psychomotor tasks, alertness, or ability to concentrate. No withdrawal or rebound effects were observed. Conclusions: Ramelteon reduced LPS over 5 weeks of treatment in subjects with chronic insomnia, with no clinically meaningful sleep architecture alterations, next-morning residual pharmacologic effects, and no evidence of rebound insomnia or withdrawal. No numerical differences were observed between the 2 doses of ramelteon.
In older adults with chronic primary insomnia, ramelteon produced significant reductions in latency to persistent sleep and increases in total sleep time and sleep efficacy, and showed no evidence of adverse next-day psychomotor or cognitive effects.
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