Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0917801 (insomnia)
 10,606 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Prostaglandin (PG) D2 and adenosine are potent endogenous somnogens and their sleep-inducing mechanisms are well characterized. We examined the contribution of these somnogens to physiological sleep by the combination of pharmacological tools and gene-knockout (KO) mice. Complete insomnia was observed in wild-type mice after an intraperitoneal injection of SeCl4, an inhibitor of PGD synthase (PGDS), or caffeine, an antagonist of adenosine A2A receptors. The SeCl4-induced insomnia was not observed in PGDS- or DP1 receptor-KO mice and the caffeine-induced insomnia, in A(2A) receptor-KO mice. A DP1 antagonist, ONO-4127Na, reduced sleep of rats by 30% during infusion into the subarachnoid space of the basal forebrain. These results indicate that the PGD2/ adenosine system plays a critical role in the regulation of physiological sleep.
 ...
PMID:[Molecular mechanisms of insomnia]. 1976 29

Far more people complain of inadequate sleep than of true insomnia warranting prescription of a hypnotic drug. The number of available hypnotics has fallen markedly in recent years. Numerous brain areas, transmitters and receptors are involved in sleep. Currently, the main hypnotics (benzodiazepine derivatives and the so-called 4Z group. Zolpidem, Zopiclone, EsZopiclone and Zaleplon) increase GABAergic transmission by acting on components of chloride channels, thereby inducing Cl entry to neurons and resulting in their hyperpolarisation. This pre-eminence of GABAergic transmission should not make us ignore other important transmitters and their receptors as potential targets for new hypnotic drugs; these include histamine (and H1 receptors), dopamine (D1 and D2), norepinephrine (alpha1), serotonin (5HT2), glutamate (NMDA), acetylcholine (nicotinic), hypocretin (OX1 and OX2), melatonin (MLT1 and MLT2), prostaglandin E2 (EP), prostaglandin D2 (DP1), and endocannabinoids (CB1). Knowledge of the pharmacodynamic, pharmacokinetic and clinical characteristics of current hypnotic drugs has allowed us to establish the profile of an ideal hypnotic for the future.
 ...
PMID:[Treatment of insomnia. Pharmacological approaches and their limitations]. 2281 62