Distinct effects of orexin receptor antagonist and GABAA agonist on sleep and physical/cognitive functions after forced awakening.
- Journal:
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
- Published:
- DOI:
- 10.1073/pnas.1907354116
- Affiliations:
- 7
- Authors:
- 12
Research Highlight
All the sleep with fewer side effects
© Tom Merton/Getty
A recently approved drug for treating insomnia has fewer physical side effects than a commonly prescribed drug.
Insomnia is one of the most prevalent sleeping disorders. It is often treated using drugs that enhance the action of the inhibitory neurotransmitter γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA). But this inhibits neurons throughout the brain, including those not involved in sleep. In contrast, the new drug suvorexant only inhibits neurons associated with wakefulness.
A team led by researchers at Tsukuba University in Japan has compared the side effects of both drugs. They found that while subjects who took a drug that activates GABA receptors in the brain exhibited significant impairment in physical and cognitive performance on being woken compared with those who had taken a placebo, those who took suvorexant did not. Both drugs were equally effective in inducing sleep.
References
- PNAS 116, 24353–24358 (2019). doi: 10.1073/pnas.1907354116
| Institutions | Authors | Share |
|---|---|---|
| University of Tsukuba, Japan | 0.90 | |
| Tokyo Seiei College (TSC), Japan | 0.08 | |
| The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UT Southwestern Medical Center), United States of America (USA) | 0.02 |