Pergolide restores sleep maintenance but impairs sleep EEG synchronization in patients with restless legs syndrome

Background: The treatment with the long-acting dopamine D1/D2 receptor agonist pergolide has been proven as very effective in lowering the frequency of periodic leg movements (PLM) in patients with restless legs syndrome (RLS). To further investigate the influence of this potent dopaminergic drug on the microstructure of rapid eye movement (REM) and non-REM sleep EEG we established a quantitative analysis of the EEG data. Methods: The study group consisted of 15 patients with primary RLS (mean age 57.1±10.1 years) who were a subgroup of patients within a double-blind randomized crossover treatment study with pergolide versus placebo. The polysomnographic recordings were analyzed visually and submitted to a quantitative EEG analysis (fast Fourier transformation). Results: The pergolide treatment induced a significant reduction of the spectral power in the delta range (0.78–3.9 Hz; P