Sedatives may suppress arousal while allowing greater genioglossus activity during sleep.
Published: 2006
Language: eng
Number of pages: 120
ISBN-13: 9780494213261
Description: Arousals can promote recurrence of obstructions in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) (AJRCCM 169:623, 2004). Accordingly, a drug that suppresses arousal without concomitant suppression of reflex-mediated pharyngeal muscle recruitment may be beneficial in OSA. This study determines if in response to respiratory stimuli a sedative can suppress arousal more than pharyngeal muscle responses, and which sedatives have this property.The results show that some sedatives can suppress arousal from sleep while allowing greater recruitment of pharyngeal muscle activity in response to respiratory stimulation. In principle, agents with this property may be beneficial in some patients with OSA, particularly those in whom arousals destabilize breathing.Although each sedative increased the arousal threshold in response to CO2 stimulation, only pentobarbital, lorazepam and zolpidem increased GG activity during non-REM sleep. This was due to a higher arousal threshold, permitting chemical respiratory drive to rise to higher levels before arousal and higher baseline GG activity before CO2 administration.
Notes: Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-03, page: 1402.

Thesis (M.Sc.)--University of Toronto, 2006.

Electronic version licensed for access by U. of T. users.

ROBARTS MICROTEXT copy on microfiche.