Effects of vigabatrin on sleep-wakefulness cycle in amygdala-kindled rats.

PURPOSE: Our aim was to study the effect of prolonged administration of vigabatrin (VGB) on sleep-wakefulness cycle in kindled seizure-induced rats.

METHODS

Adult male Wistar rats were implanted stereotaxically with electrodes for kindling and polysomnography. The rats were divided into two groups, kindled and VGB-treated kindled rats. VGB was administered intraperitonially every day for 21 days, and polysomnographic recordings were taken after doses 1, 7, 14, and 21. The drug effects were evaluated by comparing the records of kindled and drug-treated kindled rats.

RESULTS

The VGB-administered kindled rats showed an increase in total sleep time (TST) due to an increase in total non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and light slow-wave sleep stage I (SI) with a decrease in wakefulness. The number of episodes and REM onset latencies were found to be decreased after drug treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

It can therefore be concluded that VGB has a somnolence-inducing effect and that it might mediate its anticonvulsant effect by altering sleep architecture through sleep-regulating areas.