The hypnotics triazolam and zolpidem have identical metabolic effects throughout the brain: implications for benzodiazepine receptor subtypes.

Using Sokoloff's 2-deoxyglucose autoradiography procedure, the effects of trizolam, a classical benzodiazepine (BZ) hypnotic, were compared to those of zolpidem, which preferentially binds to BZ1 receptor subtypes. Triazolam depressed metabolism in 40 of the more than 60 brain regions evaluated. Zolpidem depressed metabolism in all of these areas, including the spinal cord, an area where the BZ1 receptor subtype is not supposed to exist. Zolpidem and triazolam also depressed metabolism in the molecular layer of the dentate gyrus, an area low in BZ1 receptors. Neither drug affected metabolism in 21 areas, including the regions most specific for the BZ1 subtype (cerebellum, inferior colliculus, globus pallidus, and substantia nigra pars reticularis). It is concluded that: (i) zolpidem and triazolam depress energy metabolism of the same areas of the brain, (ii) zolpidem's effects may not be mediated solely through the BZ1 receptor subtype, and (iii) the BZ2 receptor may be functionally more significant than the BZ1 receptor.