Adenosine and sleep homeostasis in the Basal forebrain.

It is currently hypothesized that the drive to sleep is determined by the activity of the basal forebrain (BF) cholinergic neurons, which release adenosine (AD), perhaps because of increased metabolic activity associated with the neuronal discharge during waking, and the accumulating AD begins to inhibit these neurons so that sleep-active neurons can become active. This hypothesis grew from the observation that AD induces sleep and AD levels increase with wake in the basal forebrain, but surprisingly it still remains untested. Here we directly test whether the basal forebrain cholinergic neurons are central to the AD regulation of sleep drive by administering 192-IgG-saporin to lesion the BF cholinergic neurons and then measuring AD levels in the BF.

Caffeine challenge in insomniac patients after total sleep deprivation.

Background And Purpose: This study compared the effects of caffeine in patients with primary insomnia and normal volunteers. The main goal was to determine the differences in sensitivity to caffeine between the groups. We investigated the effects on daytime sleep of placebo or caffeine after a night of total sleep deprivation (SD).

Low delta sleep predicted a good clinical response to olanzapine administration in schizophrenic patients.

Introduction: Schizophrenic patients show sleep abnormalities, consisting mainly of decreased delta sleep time, short rapid eye movement (REM) sleep latency, and a reduction in sleep continuity variables. Olanzapine is a novel antipsychotic drug with an atypical profile. The goals of the present study were to determine if pre-treatment sleep variables and the initial response to olanzapine administration on the sleep variables can predict the clinical improvement after eight weeks of treatment.

Effects of hypocretin2-saporin and antidopamine-beta-hydroxylase-saporin neurotoxic lesions of the dorsolateral pons on sleep and muscle tone.

The hypocretin neurons have been implicated in regulating sleep-wake states as they are lost in patients with the sleep disorder narcolepsy. Hypocretin (HCRT) neurons are located only in the perifornical region of the posterior hypothalamus and heavily innervate pontine brainstem neurons, such as the locus coeruleus (LC), which have traditionally been implicated in promoting arousal. It is not known how the hypocretin innervation of the pons regulates sleep-wake states as pontine lesions have never been shown to increase sleep.

Nicotine dependence and psychiatric disorders.

Nicotine addiction is the single largest preventable cause of morbidity and mortality in the Western World. Smoking is not any more just a bad habit, but a substance addiction problem. The pharmacological aspects of nicotine show that this substance has a broad distribution in the different body compartnents, due mainly to its lipophilic characteristic.

Changes in compulsion and anxiety symptoms with nicotine transdermal patches in non-smoking obsessive-compulsive disorder patients.

Objective: Some of the obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms can be elicited in rats by the administration of quinpirole (D2/D3 dopaminergic agonist). Nicotine administration blocked some aspect of checking behavior in that model. The main goal of this study was to determine if the clinical manifestations of OCD non smoking patients change with the administration of transdermal nicotine patches.

Narcolepsy-like symptoms in a patient with down syndrome and without obstructive sleep apnea.

Objective: The study reports on a 33-year-old Caucasian female with Down syndrome and narcolepsy-like symptoms.

Method: After medical and genetic screening, docturnal polysomnography followed by a Multiple Sleep Latency Test and HLA typing were performed. The patient was medication free and reported a number of cataplexy attacks everyday.

[Accuracy and diagnostic utility of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD) in a sample of obese Mexican patients].

The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD) have been used in Mexico in drug abusers, burned patients, older people, with renal insufficiency and high-risk pregnant women. The aim of this study was to determine reproducibility and accuracy of the questionnaire in a sample of obese subjects. A group of 75 obese patients (BMI > 27) without diabetes mellitus were invited to participated in the study.

Effects of hypocaloric diet on sleep in young and old rats.

Aging produces a loss in a number of behavioral and cognitive functions, including sleep. Hypocaloric diet is one of the few methods that have been shown to retard the effects due to age. However, the effects of such a diet on sleep have never been investigated.

Relationship between mood improvement and sleep changes with acute nicotine administration in non-smoking major depressed patients.

Background: Acute administration of nicotine patches produced rapid eye movement sleep (REM) increases in non-smoking major depressed patients as well as clinical improvement in mood. Antidepressant effect was also observed after four continuous days of nicotine administration. The main goal of the present study was to observe the relationship between changes in REM sleep variables and mood in non-smoking major depressed patients.