title: Triethylene glycol, an active component of Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) leaves, is responsible for sleep induction.
abstract: Insomnia is the most common sleep complaint which occurs due to difficulty in falling asleep or maintaining it. Most of currently available drugs for insomnia develop dependency and/or adverse effects. Hence natural therapies could be an alternative choice of treatment for insomnia. The root or whole plant extract of Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) has been used to induce sleep in Indian system of traditional home medicine, Ayurveda. However, its active somnogenic components remain unidentified. We investigated the effect of various components of Ashwagandha leaf on sleep regulation by oral administration in mice. We found that the alcoholic extract that contained high amount of active withanolides was ineffective to induce sleep in mice. However, the water extract which contain triethylene glycol as a major component induced significant amount of non-rapid eye movement sleep with slight change in rapid eye movement sleep. Commercially available triethylene glycol also increased non-rapid eye movement sleep in mice in a dose-dependent (10-30 mg/mouse) manner. These results clearly demonstrated that triethylene glycol is an active sleep-inducing component of Ashwagandha leaves and could potentially be useful for insomnia therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Sleep, International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine (WPI-IIIS), University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.|Department of Molecular Genetics, International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine (WPI-IIIS), University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
authors.forename: Mahesh K
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4286-1573
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Kaushik
authors.affiliation: Drug Discovery and Assets Innovation Lab, DBT-AIST International Laboratory for Advanced Biomedicine (DAILAB), National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Higashi 1-1-1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
authors.forename: Sunil C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Kaul
authors.affiliation: Drug Discovery and Assets Innovation Lab, DBT-AIST International Laboratory for Advanced Biomedicine (DAILAB), National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Higashi 1-1-1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
authors.forename: Renu
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wadhwa
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics, International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine (WPI-IIIS), University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
authors.forename: Masashi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yanagisawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Sleep, International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine (WPI-IIIS), University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Urade
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry*; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012890:Sleep / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D000068776:Sleep Aids, Pharmaceutical / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D010936:Plant Extracts; D000068776:Sleep Aids, Pharmaceutical; C028914:triethylene glycol; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; C030693:Ashwagandha