High doses of systemic DHEA-sulfate do not affect sleep structure and elicit moderate changes in non-REM sleep EEG in rats.
The hormone dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and its metabolite DHEA-sulfate (DHEAS) occur in huge quantities in the plasma as well as in the brain of vertebrates. To investigate whether DHEAS modulates sleep-wake behavior, we assessed the sleep response to three doses (25, 50, and 100 mg/kg) of intraperitoneally administered DHEAS, mixed with oil, in 8 rats. DHEAS injections produced dose-dependent and long-lasting elevations in the plasma levels of both DHEAS and DHEA. DHEAS administration did not affect sleep time and architecture but exerted persistent effects on the electroencephalogram (EEG) within non-rapid eye movement sleep: 50 mg/kg DHEAS significantly augmented EEG power in the frequency range of sleep spindles, and 100 mg/kg DHEAS depressed EEG power in the slow-wave frequency bands. The findings indicate that DHEAS changes the sleep EEG in a dose-dependent way, possibly through a modulation of GABA- and glutamate-induced currents.
Clinical Institute of Psychiatry, University of Kiel, Niemannsweg 147, D-24115, Kiel, Germany. schiffelholz@psychiatry.uni-kiel.de
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D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001143:Arousal / Q000187:drug effects; D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone / Q000097:blood; D019314:Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000097:blood; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004567:Electrodes, Implanted; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000187:drug effects*; D004576:Electromyography; D007274:Injections, Intraperitoneal; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000187:drug effects; D012890:Sleep / Q000187:drug effects*; D012894:Sleep Stages / Q000187:drug effects*; D012895:Sleep, REM / Q000187:drug effects
D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone; D019314:Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate