Differential sleep-promoting effects of five sleep substances nocturnally infused in unrestrained rats

Sleep-inducing and sleep-maintaining effects of five different putative sleep substances were compared by the same nocturnal 10-hr intracerebroventricular infusion technique in otherwise saline-infused, freely moving male rats. Delta-sleep-inducing peptide (2.5 nmol), which induces electroencephalogram delta (slow)-wave patterns, was rapidly effective in increasing both slow-wave sleep and paradoxical sleep but the effects were not long-lasting. Muramyl dipeptide (2 nmol) induced excessive slow-wave sleep in the middle of the infusion period, accompanying a simultaneous elevation of brain temperature. However, paradoxical sleep was not affected. Component B of sleep-promoting substance (2 brainstem equivalents), a partially purified extract from rats deprived of sleep for 24-hr, was markedly effective in inducing and maintaining both kinds of sleep. Prostaglandin D2 (0.36 nmol) was more effective in enhancing sleep at the later period of the infusion period. Uridine (10 pmol) caused a mild but long-lasting increase in sleep, especially in paradoxical sleep. Thus, each substance exhibited compound-specific sleep-modulating properties.