State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
CNS Neurosci Ther. 2012 Aug;18(8):623-30. doi: 10.1111/j.1755-5949.2012.00334.x. Epub 2012 May 28.
Safranal (2,6,6-trimethyl-1,3-cyclohexadiene-1-carboxaldehyde, C(10) H(14) O) is an active ingredient in the saffron, which is used in traditional medicine. It has been reported to have sedative and anti-epileptic effects, but its hypnotic effects remain uncertain. The aim of this study was to evaluate effects of safranal on sleep-wake cycle.
We established hypnotic-model mice treated with a low dose of pentobarbital 20 mg/kg, and administered different doses of safranal, vehicle, or diazepam. The change of sleep-wake cycle was assessed by sleep recording and c-Fos expression in the brain was analyzed by immunohistochemistry.
Safranal increased the duration of non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, shortened NREM sleep latency, and enhanced the delta power activity of NREM sleep. Immunohistochemical evaluation revealed that safranal increased c-Fos expression in the ventrolateral preoptic nucleus (VLPO), one of the putative sleep centers, and decreased it in the arousal histaminergic tuberomammillary nuclei (TMN).
These findings indicate that safranal enhances NREM sleep in pentobarbital-treated mice. The hypnotic effects of safranal may be related to the activation of the sleep-promoting neurons in the VLPO and the simultaneous inhibition of the wakefulness-promoting neurons in the TMN, suggesting that safranal may be a hypnotic substance.
藏红花中的有效成分藏红花醛（2,6,6-三甲基-1,3-环己二烯-1-羧酸醛，C(10) H(14) O），在传统医学中被用于治疗。据报道，它具有镇静和抗癫痫作用，但催眠作用仍不确定。本研究旨在评估藏红花醛对睡眠-觉醒周期的影响。
我们建立了用低剂量戊巴比妥（20mg/kg）处理的催眠模型小鼠，并给予不同剂量的藏红花醛、载体或地西泮。通过睡眠记录评估睡眠-觉醒周期的变化，并通过免疫组织化学分析大脑中 c-Fos 的表达。
藏红花醛增加了非快速眼动（NREM）睡眠的持续时间，缩短了 NREM 睡眠潜伏期，并增强了 NREM 睡眠的δ功率活动。免疫组织化学评估显示，藏红花醛增加了假定的睡眠中心之一腹外侧视前核（VLPO）中的 c-Fos 表达，并降低了觉醒组胺能结节乳头核（TMN）中的 c-Fos 表达。
这些发现表明，藏红花醛增强了戊巴比妥处理的小鼠的 NREM 睡眠。藏红花醛的催眠作用可能与 VLPO 中促进睡眠的神经元的激活和 TMN 中促进觉醒的神经元的同时抑制有关，这表明藏红花醛可能是一种催眠物质。
