Dementia is a
neurologic disorder presenting memory impairment as a main symptom. It is well known that patients often complain of sleep disturbance as an associated symptom in
dementia. It has been reported that
donepezil caused sleep disturbance, but little is known about the effect of
galantamine on sleep-wake patterns. In the present study, we investigated the effects of anti-
dementia drugs on sleep-wake patterns in sleep-disturbed rats. Single administration of
donepezil and
galantamine caused no significant effect on sleep-wake patterns at doses used in the present study in rats. On the other hand,
piracetam caused a significant decrease in sleep latency at a dose of 500 mg/kg. Next, we examined the changes in sleep-wake patterns from repeated administration of
donepezil,
galantamine and
piracetam.
Donepezil caused significant increases in sleep latency and total wake time and decrease in total non-rapid eye movement sleep time at a dose of 1 mg/kg. However,
galantamine caused no effect on sleep-wake patterns.
Piracetam caused significant decreases in sleep latency and total wake time at a dose of 500 mg/kg. From these results, it is concluded that
donepezil deteriorated sleep disturbance, and
piracetam caused
somnolence. In addition,
galantamine showed no influence on the sleep.