NeurologyLive® Year in Review 2022: Top Stories in Sleep Disorders

In 2022, the NeurologyLive^® staff was a busy bunch, covering clinical news and data readouts from around the world across a number of key neurology subspecialty areas. From major study publications and FDA decisions to societal conference sessions and expert interviews, the team spent all year bringing the latest information to the website's front page.

Among our key focus areas is sleep disorders. Sleep medicine specialists experienced a number of FDA decisions in the past 12 months, among other progress in the existing knowledge of sleep pathology. Although major news items often appear among the top pieces our team produces, sometimes smaller stories reach those heights for other reasons—clinical impact and interest, or concerns about the small- or big-picture parts of care, for example. Whatever the reason for the attention these stories got, their place here helps provide an understanding of the themes in this field over the course of 2022.

Here, we'll highlight some of the most-read content on NeurologyLive^® this year. Click the buttons to read further into these stories.

1. Insomnia-Related Symptoms Possibly Linked to Frequency of Alcohol and Cannabis Use in Late Adolescence

In a recent longitudinal latent class analysis study conducted by Wendy Troxel, PhD, and colleagues, of 2995 late-growing adolescents, consistently poor sleep health was associated with higher levels of alcohol and cannabis use, as well as higher health consequences from substance use. The data were published in Addiction Behaviors.

2. Severe COVID-19 Could Potentially Lead to Obstructive Sleep Apnea

In an analysis done by Xiang Gao, MD, et al published in Sleep Medicine, data showed a relationship between severe COVID-19 and obstructive sleep apnea, marking this as the first study that clarifies the relationship between OSA and the risk of COVID-19 using a bidirectional, 2-sample Mendelian randomization analysis, providing a better understanding of OSA and COVID-19.

3. Presence of Insomnia Symptoms Associated With Alcohol-Related Harm

New data from a survey study of 461 college students showed that symptoms of insomnia were associated with alcohol-related harm, with the associations between drinking and acute physiological consequences from the alcohol’s effects possibly buffered by the presence of insomnia symptoms, according to Angelo M. DiBello, PhD, and colleagues, who published the findings in Addiction Behaviors.

4. Jazz Acquires Narcolepsy Hopeful DSP-0187 in Agreement With Sumitomo Pharma

According to an announcement in late spring, Jazz Pharmaceuticals and Sumitomo Pharma entered into an agreement to codevelop and cocommercialize Sumitomo’s investigational sleep disorder treatment, DSP-0187, which will be referred to as JZP441 by Jazz. The treatment has shown potential application as a therapy for narcolepsy, as well as idiopathic hypersomnia and other sleep disorders, and is initially expected to be evaluated in narcolepsy.

5. FDA Approves Daridorexant for Insomnia Treatment

In January, the FDA approved Idorsia’s daridorexant, a dual orexin receptor antagonist, for the treatment of insomnia in adults, to be marketed under the name Quviviq. The medication, which was recommended as a controlled substance by the FDA, became available in May 2022 following scheduling by the US Drug Enforcement Administration.

6. Improvements in Treating Narcolepsy, Idiopathic Hypersomnia Through Xywav

To learn more about findings presented at SLEEP 2022, as well as some of the therapeutic advantages JZP-258 brings to sleep disorders, Richard Bogan, MD, FCCP, FAASM, provided insight on the clinical management of both idiopathic hypersomnia and narcolepsy and the approach to treating them going forward.

7. FT218 Receives Tentative Approval for EDS, Cataplexy in Adults With Narcolepsy

This summer, the FDA granted tentative approval to Avadel Pharmaceuticals’ extended-release oral suspension formulation of sodium oxybate, marketed as Lumryz, for the treatment of excessive daytime sleepiness or cataplexy in adults with narcolepsy. Previously, the therapy was known as FT218.

8. IDSIQ Instrument Sensitive to Daytime Changes Experienced in Insomnia

Using a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 trial (NCT03545191) of daridorexant (Quviviq; Idorsia) in adults with insomnia, the incorporation of the Insomnia Daytime Symptoms and Impacts Questionnaire, a patient-reported outcome instrument, was found to be sensitive to changes in patients who experience daytime impacts of insomnia in data presented at SLEEP 2022 by Dalma S. Kinter, PhD.

9. Pediatric Sleep Disorders: Assessment and Treatment

Yolanda A. Yu, DO, and Alon Y. Avidan, MD, MPH, provide an in-depth overview of the long-term consequences of untreated—and prevalent—sleep disorders in children and adolescents and explain how they point to a need to focus on this field of care. In this review, they discuss common pediatric sleep disorders and provide epidemiology background, clinical presentation, diagnostic evaluation, and management opportunities.

10. Pitolisant to be Evaluated in Idiopathic Hypersomnia Phase 3 Study

A newly initiated phase 3 study, dubbed INTUNE (NCT05156047), will evaluate the efficacy and safety of pitolisant (Wakix) in patients with idiopathic hypersomnia, a condition that currently has only 1 FDA-approved medication, Harmony Biosciences announced this past spring. Pitolisant, a selective histamine 3 receptor antagonist/inverse agonist, is already FDA-approved to treat excessive daytime sleepiness and cataplexy in adults with narcolepsy.