Pharmacological properties of traditional medicines. XXVI. Effects of Sansohnin-to on pentobarbital sleep in stressed mice

We investigated the effect of Sansohnin-to SAT on changes of duration in so dium pentobarbital (PB)-induced sleeping time caused by five types of stres s. SAT reversed shortened PB sleep in repeated cold stress or 45 min-restraint stress tests and the prolonged PB sleep in 120 min-restraint stress. SAT d id not reverse the shortened PB sleep in the specific stress state caused b y an alternating rhythm in temperature stress or social isolation stress, I n addition, SAT influenced both shortened PB sleep in 45 min-restraint stre ss and prolonged PB sleep in 120 min-restraint stress. SAT had no effect on PB sleep in unstressed control mice. These findings suggest that SAT has u nusual activity, different from synthetic narcoleptics such as benzodiazepi ne. This is because SAT had no effect on PB sleep in unstressed mice, and i t reverses stress-induced decrease and/or increase in PB sleep by improving stress-induced functional changes in the central nervous system, rather th an by acting like a synthetic hypnotic on the gamma-aminobutyric acid(A) (G ABA(A)) receptor.