Dreaming of Better Treatments: Advances in Drug Development for Sleep Medicine and Chronotherapy.
Journal of sleep research May 10, 2025 Brooke A Prakash, Ishani Shah, Guohao Ni et al. 2 citations
The development of sleep medicines has evolved from ancient herbal sedatives to modern synthetic drugs, driven by deeper understanding of sleep mechanisms. Barbiturates and bromides in the 19th century gave way to benzodiazepines, which promote gamma-amino butyric acid release to inhibit brain signaling. Newer therapies more specifically target the wake-inducing neurotransmitter orexin, reducing side effects. Kinases are predicted to be the next targets for breakthroughs in sleep medicine. Sleep disruptions contribute to the buildup of pathological neuronal proteins in neurodegenerative disorders, so sleep medicine could improve prognosis in such conditions, but medicines that do not fully mimic sleep might worsen disease progression.