Effects of indole‐pyruvic acid on sleep and food intake in the rat

Abstract

Indole-pyruvic acid was studied for its short- and long-term effects on electroencephalographic sleep and on food intake in rats implanted with cortical and muscular electrodes. Following a single injection, indole-pyruvic acid (10-50 mg kg-1 i.p.) reduced by 16-23 min (range) the latency of the first slow-wave episode in a dose-related fashion and produced a significant increase in slow-wave sleep time (12-40%) in doses of 10-30 mg kg-1. Rapid eye movement sleep latency and rapid eye movement sleep time were increased (by 23-37 min) and reduced (57-71%) respectively. The effects of indole-pyruvic acid on slow-wave sleep time were still present after 3, 7 and 14 days of chronic administration (10 mg kg-1 day-1), whereas tolerance to the effect of indole-pyruvic acid on rapid eye movement sleep was observed. Daily food consumption was reduced (20-28%) by acute administration of indole-pyruvic acid (15-30 mg kg-1 i.p.), but tolerance developed after 5 days of repeated injections. These findings are in accordance with previous evidence suggesting that indole-pyruvic acid effects may be related to the activation of central serotonin neurons, which are involved in the inhibitory control of sleep and food intake.

Cyrcadian Rhythm, Mood, and Temporal Patterns of Eating Chocolate: A Scoping Review of Physiology, Findings, and Future Directions

“…In addition, another pathway through which cocoa has a protective effect on the synchronous maintenance of the sleep–wake rhythm in subjects with CSD is the modulated neurotransmission of serotonin [ 146 , 147 ]. In fact, regular cocoa consumption has been shown to increase serotonin concentrations in the brain [ 148 ].…”