EFFECTS OF GAMMA-HYDROXYBUTYRATE ON SLEEP

  • 1 January 1977
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 12  (2) , 273-288
Abstract
Sodium .gamma.-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) is a remarkably safe and nontoxic hypnotic agent reported to be free of addicting properties. It is also a normal metabolite of the mammalian nervous system. Its effects on the sleep-EEG of 8 patients with histories of impaired sleep were examined, as a prelude to a more detailed study of its clinical potential. Sleep induced with GHB was indistinguishable subjectively from natural sleep and by behavioral and EEG criteria. Unlike most synthetic hypnotics, GHB increased .delta. sleep and did not suppress REM [rapid eye movement] sleep. It shortened the REM sleep latency and shifted REM sleep into the 1st third of the night. On 1 occasion it induced a sleep onset REM period which was experienced as an attack of sleep paralysis. Withdrawal was simple; there was no REM sleep rebound and sleep patterns immediately returned to their pre-drug form. Its major clinical drawback was its short duration of action: its hypnotic effect lasting only 2-3 h. GHB may serve as the prototype for a new class of hypnotic compounds derived from natural sources and capable of activating the neurological mechanisms of normal human sleep.

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