Prevention of Delirium Via Melatonin and Orexin Neurotransmission

The fundamental conception of delirium is altered arousal. In addition, sleep-wake cycle isturbances including insomnia, excessive daytime napping, and disintegration of the xpected circadian patterns have been described as a characteristic component of delirium or decades, and demonstrated to be a core symptom domain of delirium. Although on-pharmacological interventions are successful to some extent, they have limitations due o various biological etiologies for delirium. Among pharmacological interventions, ntipsychotics seem to be effective, but they are not suitable for preventive use because f relatively frequent side-effects such as extrapyramidal symptoms. Recently, new type of rugs for insomnia have been focused with respect to delirium prevention. Recent eta-analyses show effectiveness of melatonin receptor agonists and orexin receptor ntagonists for delirium prevention, and real-world data support them.