Basal metabolic rate in narcoleptic patients.

STUDY

OBJECTIVES

We investigated basal metabolic rate (BMR) and energy expenditure (EE) in narcoleptic patients and in BMI- and age-matched controls in order to explore the hypothesis that a reduced BMR or EE plays a role in narcolepsy-associated obesity.

DESIGN

Control group design with comparison of EE and BMR. EE was determined by indirect calorimetry using the Deltatrac Metabolic Monitor system. BMR was calculated from the oxygen consumption (VO2) and the carbon dioxide consumption (VCO2) measurements after 12 hours of fasting in the morning.

PARTICIPANTS

13 narcoleptic patients and 30 controls.

RESULTS

BMR and EE were not significantly reduced when all subjects were included into the analysis. Subgroup analysis revealed that only non-obese narcoleptics, but not obese narcoleptics had reduced BMRs in comparison to the BMI matched controls.

CONCLUSION

Our study suggests that EE plays a role in narcolepsy associated obesity. We propose that narcolepsy may lead to a shift of individual BMI set points.