The Effect Of Clomipramine On Rat Sleep/wake States And Expression Of Orexinergic MRNA

Introduction: Although insomnia is a common symptom in depression, the effectof sleep deprivation especially rapid eye movement (REM) sleep deprivation on depression, i.e. improving depressive symptom, has been consolidated. The mechanism for such findings remains to be understood. Recently studies implicated that the insufficient active wake regulation and the compensational increase of quiet wake may play a role in the path-regulation of depression. New find direct that wake can be increase by orexinergic neurons. Orexinergic neurons increase quiet wake by releasing orexin A and increased active wake by releasing orexin B. Feng et al. found that orexin B level was decreased significantly in several brain regions in a rat model of depression induced by neonatal treatment with clomipramine. This evidence implicates that antidepressants may modify wake/sleep states in depression via orexinergic system. However, the effect of antidepressant on wake regulation and orexinergic neurons has not been tested. We hypothesize that clomipramine, a tricyclic antidepressant and REM sleep suppresser, might have an effect on orexinergic system, through which it plays an important role in regulation of wake states.