Abstract:Objective To explore the potential mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in the treatment of chronic insomnia base on the secretion of melatonin and sleep rhythm.MethodsTen insomnia patients (observation group, 1 case was excluded, 1 case withdrew, and a total of 8 cases completed the study) and 10 healthy people (control group) from the TCM outpatient clinic of the First Affiliated Hospital with Nanjing Medical University were selected randomly. The control group was given non-drug treatment, while the observation group was given with addition and subtraction of a compound TCM treatment of Suanzaoren Decoction and Huanglian Wendan Decoction for 4 weeks. Saliva melatonin (MT) concentration, Morning and Evening Questionnaire and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) scores were measured before and after treatment. ResultsAfter treatment with TCM, the peak concentration of MT in the observation group increased, but there was no statistically significant difference compared to before treatment (P＞0.05). After treatment, the PSQI score of the observation group (6.71±4.27) decreased significantly compared to before treatment (10.67±2.96) (t=2.29, P=0.036). The majority of the sleep patterns in the observation group were intermediate type (6/8) before treatment, but they shifted to morning type (5/8) after treatment, with only one case of intermediate type. ConclusionThis study preliminarily suggests that this compound TCM preparation may treat chronic insomnia by regulating MT secretion and sleep rhythm.