title: Sleep impairment by diethyldithiocarbamate in rat. Protective effects of pre-conditioning and antioxidants.
abstract: Dithiocarbamates, a class of compounds widely used in medicine and agriculture, have been reported to impair sleep structure. These effects have been attributed to the decrease in norepinephrine levels induced by these drugs. However, it has also been recently demonstrated that most of the mechanisms by which dithiocarbamates damage cell function involve changes in oxidative environment. To verify the potential relevance of the latter mechanism in the sleep impairment, we examined the sleep response of adult rats to an acute administration of diethyldithiocarbamate (DDTC). At the dose of 0.6 g/kg, DDTC induced fragmentation and a decrease in slow wave sleep (SWS), and a dramatic loss of paradoxical sleep (PS). These changes occurred soon after the treatment (day 0), persisted the following day (day 1), partially recovered on day 3, and regained near basal values on day 6. No sleep anomalies were observed with a lower dose of DDTC (0.06 mg/kg). On the other hand, when the higher dose of DDTC was given in association with either one of two antioxidants, alpha-tocopherol or melatonin, the amounts of SWS and PS significantly improved even on day 1, suggesting that the DDTC effects on sleep involved an impairment of the brain oxidative balance. Likewise, administration of the lower dose of DDTC 5 days before the higher dose induced a much earlier recovery of normal sleep, presumably due to the development of a tolerance to DDTC. On the whole, the data suggest that the brain oxidative environment may play a role in the mechanisms subserving sleep regulation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Perugia, Via Elce di sotto, 06123 Perugia, Italy. gigliola@unipg.it
authors.forename: Gigliola
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Grassi Zucconi
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Semprevivo
authors.forename: Maria Assunta
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Laurenzi
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Giuditta
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D002614:Chelating Agents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004050:Ditiocarb / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D008297:Male; D008550:Melatonin / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012890:Sleep / Q000187:drug effects*; D012894:Sleep Stages / Q000187:drug effects; D013997:Time Factors; D024502:alpha-Tocopherol / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D002614:Chelating Agents; D004050:Ditiocarb; D024502:alpha-Tocopherol; D008550:Melatonin