Effect of Oleamide on Sleep and Its Relationship to Blood Pressure, Body Temperature, and Locomotor Activity in Rats

• Published in: Experimental neurology Vol. 172; no. 1; pp. 235 - 243
• Main Authors: Huitrón-Reséndiz, Salvador, Gombart, Lhys, Cravatt, Benjamin F., Henriksen, Steven J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Inc 01.11.2001; Elsevier
• Subjects: Animals; Behavior, Animal - drug effects; Biological and medical sciences; blood pressure; Blood Pressure - drug effects; body temperature; Body Temperature - drug effects; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Handling (Psychology); Heart Rate - drug effects; Injections, Intraperitoneal; Injections, Intraventricular; Male; motor activity; Motor Activity - drug effects; oleamide; Oleic Acids - administration & dosage; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; sleep; Sleep - drug effects; Sleep. Vigilance; Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs; oleamide; sleep; blood pressure; body temperature; motor activity; Fissipedia; Carnivora; Intraperitoneal administration; Rat; Body temperature; Rodentia; Slow wave sleep; Heart rate; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Animal; Cat; Biological effect; Brain (vertebrata)
• ISSN: 0014-4886; 1090-2430
• DOI: 10.1006/exnr.2001.7792

Oleamide (cis-9,10-octadecenoamide) is a brain lipid that has recently been isolated from the cerebral fluid of sleep-deprived cats. Intracerebroventricular and intraperitoneal administration of oleamide induces sleep in rats. However, it is unclear whether oleamide's hypnogenic effects are mediated, in part, by its actions on blood pressure and core body temperature. Here we show that systemic administration of oleamide (10 and 20 mg/kg) in rats increased slow-wave sleep 2, without affecting blood pressure and heart rate. In addition, oleamide decreased body temperature and locomotor activity in a dose-dependent manner. These latter effects were not correlated in time with the observed increases in slow-wave sleep. These data suggest that the hypnogenic effects of oleamide are not related to changes in blood pressure, heart rate, or body temperature.