Prostaglandin D2, a cerebral sleep-inducing substance in rats.

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Abstract
The circadian sleep patterns of unrestrained rats were monitored for > 96 h, and various prostaglandins [PG] were infused into their 3rd ventricles for 10 h to study the effects on inducing sleep. PGD2 at 6 fmol/min had no effect on either slow wave sleep or paradoxical sleep. PGD2 at as little as 60 fmol/min caused a significant amount of excess slow wave sleep as compared with the control level during saline infusion. Paradoxical sleep was induced by PGD2 at doses > 600 fmol/min. PGD2 (600 fmol/min) increased slow wave sleep by 33% and paradoxical sleep by 56%. Although PGF2.alpha. (600 fmol/min) increased the amount of slow wave sleep, its activity was less than that of the same amount of PGD2. PGE2 (600 fmol/min) had no effect on increasing the amounts of both slow wave sleep and paradoxical sleep. During the infusion of PGD2, rats were easily aroused by clap sound stimulation and their sleeping and waking postures remained normal. Their sleep was episodic, as observed in the physiological sleep of rats.