Vol. 299, Issue 3, 1095-1105, December 2001

Pregabalin Enhances Nonrapid Eye Movement Sleep

Takeshi Kubota, Jidong Fang, Leonard T. Meltzer and James M. Krueger

Department of Veterinary and Comparative Anatomy, Pharmacology, and Physiology, Washington State University, College of Veterinary Medicine, Pullman, Washington (T.K., J. F., J.M.K.); and Central Nervous System Pharmacology, Pfizer Global Research and Development, Ann Arbor Laboratories, Ann Arbor, Michigan (L.T.M.)

Pregabalin, an analog of -aminobutyric acid (GABA) that does not interact with GABA receptors, is in development as an analgesic, an anticonvulsant, and an anxiolytic. We evaluated the potential somnogenic actions of pregabalin in rats and compared it to those of triazolam, a widely used hypnotic. Pregabalin increased the duration of nonrapid eye movement sleep (NREMS) and decreased rapid eye movement sleep (REMS) after either dark onset or light onset administration. Triazolam increased duration of NREMS and had no effect on duration of REMS. Pregabalin markedly increased the duration of NREMS episodes and decreased the number of NREMS episodes. Power spectrum analysis revealed pregabalin-induced dose-dependent increases in relative delta power after administration. In contrast, triazolam decreased electroencephalographic power density in low frequency bands. Results suggest that pregabalin is a potential sleep modulating agent.