Riluzole suppresses post-sigh, but not spontaneous apnoeas during sleep in rats

Abstract

We conducted this experiment to determine the role of glutamate in the mechanism of sleep apnoeas by administering riluzole, a glutamate release inhibitor, to freely moving rats in which sleep-related apnoeas are physiological phenomena. Adult Sprague-Dawley rats were implanted with electrodes for electroencephalogram (EEG) and electromyogram (EMG) recording to monitor sleep and were placed inside a single-chamber plethysmograph to monitor respiration. Sleep and respiration were recorded for 6 h following intraperitoneal administration of 0.5, 5.0 and 10.0 mg kg(-1) riluzole. Riluzole dose-dependently suppressed post-sigh apnoeas during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep but had no effect on sleep-related spontaneous apnoeas. The drug (5.0 and 10.0 mg kg(-1)) also dose-dependently reduced wakefulness and increased sleep. It appears that glutamate, an excitatory neurotransmitter, plays a role in the genesis of the post-sigh apnoeas during REM sleep.

An important functional role of persistent Na+current in carotid body hypoxia transduction

“…Based on previous dose-ranging experiments done in our laboratory, phenytoin (administered at 20 mg/kg ip) results in a circulating concentration of ϳ100 M, which is the in vitro dose used. The in vivo dosages are within the therapeutic ranges for humans (33,43,68) and were previously used for animal studies (49,55). Control groups received similar volumes of the drug vehicle, DMSO (8 ml/kg).…”

Central and peripheral factors contributing to obstructive sleep apneas

“…The post-sigh apnea is an important manifestation of a central apnea (Eckert et al, 2007a; Radulovacki et al, 2001; Saponjic et al, 2007). Post-sigh apneas are very common in children (Haupt et al, 2012; O'Driscoll et al, 2009) but are also present in adults (Vlemincx et al, 2010).…”

Effects of progesterone on apneic events during behaviorally defined sleep in male rats

“…Further, since an inhibitor of central glutamatergic neurotransmission, riluzole, decreased the number of PSA, but did not that of SA in the rat (Radulovacki et al, 2001), different mechanisms are suggested to be involved in the generation of each type of apnea. Consistently, the present results also demonstrated differences between SA and PSA in characteristics of apneic events and in responsiveness to progesterone.…”