Division of Sleep Research, Biomedical Technology Wing, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Trivandrum, Kerala 695012, India.
Department of Biochemistry, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Trivandrum, Kerala 695011, India.
Neuropharmacology. 2017 Oct;125:13-29. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2017.07.003. Epub 2017 Jul 8.
Commonly used hypnotics have undesirable side-effects, especially during continuous usage. On the other hand, some herbal products, which are used for prolonged periods, are suggested to have a sleep inducing property, though the claims have not been validated scientifically. The hypnotic potential of α-Asarone, an active principle of Acorus species, was tested in the present study by first identifying the optimal dose of α-Asarone for improving sleep, followed by studies that evaluated the effect of repeated administration of this optimal dose for five days on sleep deprived rats. Of all the doses tested (2, 10, 40, 80 and 120 mg/kg), 10 mg/kg α-Asarone improved the quality of sleep, as indicated by an increased NREM bout duration, reduced arousal index, and decreased bout frequencies of NREM sleep and wakefulness. A marginal decrease in the hypothalamic and body temperatures was also observed. Higher doses, on the other hand, not only reduced the quantity and quality of sleep, but also produced hypothermia. In sleep deprived rats, administration of 10 mg/kg α-Asarone for five consecutive days improved the quality of sleep in contrast to the vehicle and a known hypnotic midazolam. Improvement in NREM sleep quality was observed when the difference between the hypothalamic and the body temperature was minimum. An enhanced association between NREM sleep bout duration and hypothalamic temperature was also observed after administration of 10 mg/kg α-Asarone. This comprehensive study is the first report on the hypnotic property of α-Asarone, which validates its potential to be considered for treatment of insomnia.
常用的催眠药有不良的副作用，尤其是在连续使用的情况下。另一方面，一些草药产品被建议具有诱导睡眠的特性，尽管这些说法尚未得到科学验证，但已经被长期使用。在本研究中，通过首先确定α-细辛醚（菖蒲属植物的一种活性成分）改善睡眠的最佳剂量，测试了α-细辛醚的催眠潜力，然后研究了连续五天重复给予该最佳剂量对睡眠剥夺大鼠的影响。在所有测试的剂量（2、10、40、80 和 120mg/kg）中，10mg/kg 的α-细辛醚改善了睡眠质量，表现为非快速眼动期（NREM）持续时间增加、觉醒指数降低以及 NREM 睡眠和觉醒的频率减少。还观察到下丘脑和体温略有下降。另一方面，较高的剂量不仅降低了睡眠的数量和质量，而且还导致体温过低。在睡眠剥夺的大鼠中，连续五天给予 10mg/kg α-细辛醚可改善睡眠质量，与载体和已知的催眠药咪达唑仑相比。当下丘脑和体温之间的差异最小时，观察到 NREM 睡眠质量的改善。在给予 10mg/kg α-细辛醚后，还观察到 NREM 睡眠持续时间与下丘脑温度之间的相关性增强。这项全面的研究是关于α-细辛醚催眠特性的首次报告，验证了其在治疗失眠方面的潜力。
