Effects of disulfiram on the sleep of chronic alcoholics.
Thirty male alcoholic inpatients received in a random double-blind design placebo (P) or disulfiram 250 mg. (D) at bedtime in order to evaluate the effects of the latter on EEG-EOG sleep patterns. Subjects (S's) had no major medical illness and required no medication for 3 weeks prior to the study. There were 13 disulfiram S's and 17 placebo S's. The total REM time decreased significantly (p less than 0.05) in the D group. Total number of REM episodes decreased and latency to stage 1 REM increased in the disulfiram group. These results are characteristic of sleep patterns induced by the administration of catecholaminergics and opposite to those induced by catecholamine inhibiting agents.
D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D000818:Animals; D002415:Cats; D004221:Disulfiram / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004298:Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D000431:Ethanol / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009638:Norepinephrine / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D011941:Receptors, Adrenergic / Q000187:drug effects; D012890:Sleep / Q000187:drug effects*; D012895:Sleep, REM / Q000187:drug effects
D011941:Receptors, Adrenergic; D000431:Ethanol; D004221:Disulfiram; D004298:Dopamine; D009638:Norepinephrine