HLA and genetic susceptibility to sleepwalking

Abstract

HLA-DQB1 typing was performed in 60 Caucasian subjects with sleepwalking (SW) disorder and their families and 60 ethnically matched subjects without any diagnosed sleep disorder. A total of 21 sleepwalkers (35.0%) were DQB1*0501 positive vs eight (13.3%) controls (P ¼ 0.0056; odds ratio ¼ 3.5, 95% CI ¼ 1.4-8.7). The family data for all HLA subtypes were further assessed for allelic association with SW using the transmission-disequilibrium test. A significant excess transmission was observed for DQB1*05 and *04 alleles in familial cases, strongly suggesting that a DQB1 polymorphic amino acid might be more tightly associated than any single allele. Sequence screening revealed that Ser74 in the second exon shared by all DQB1*05 and *04 was 20 times transmitted against 4 times non-transmitted (P ¼ 0.001) in familial cases of SW. Thus, together with narcolepsy and REM sleep behavior disorder, these findings suggest that specific DQB1 genes are implicated in disorders of motor control during sleep.

Treatments for somnambulism in adults: Assessing the evidence

“…9 Prevalence appears unaffected by gender or socio-economic status, but has a genetic basis. 10,11 Various drugs, most recently Zolpidem, 12 have been reported to be associated with sleepwalking but this is controversial, being based on small numbers of cases and often without thorough investigation of alternative causation. 13 Among those who exhibit sleep walking, an episode can follow sleep deprivation.…”

Genetic basis of sleep disorders

“…In a recent study on 60 Caucasian subjects and their families we reported a positive association between the HLA-DQB1*05 subtype and sleepwalking [82]. The frequency of DQB1*0501 was increased in sleepwalking patients while DQB1*0602 (associated with narcolepsy) was slightly decreased.…”

Outros Distúrbios Do Sono Na Síndrome Da Apnéia Do Sono

“…Tal dissociação implica, por exemplo, na presença de atividade motora típica da vigília, durante estado de sono eletrograficamente determinado. Existem fatores genéticos 20,21,22 e ambientais relacionados, podendo os ataques serem desencadeados por febre, álcool, privação de sono, stress emocional (Tabela II). Além destes, qualquer distúrbio do sono capaz de induzir à fragmentação do sono, favorecendo, portanto, à dissociação das variáveis fisioló-gicas, pode potencialmente provocar tais parassonias.…”