Research
Hormonal
Prostaglandin D2 (PGD2) is a major sleep-promoting eicosanoid produced by leptomeninges and choroid plexus that stimulates sleep by eliciting adenosine release from arachnoid cells, which then acts on the ventrolateral preoptic area (VLPO).
PGD2, produced in the membranes surrounding the brain, promotes sleep by triggering the release of adenosine, which then acts on sleep-active neurons. This highlights a complex interaction between brain structures and biochemical signals in regulating sleep.
StrongSupportsHIGH confidence
PGD2 is the major sleep-promoting eicosanoid... PGD2 acts on arachnoid trabecular cells in a circumscribed area on the surface of the basal forebrain, and elicits adenosine release. Adenosine diffuses to the VLPO situated nearby and stimulates sleep-active neurons via A2 receptors.
Why this rating
Supported by microinjection studies, transgenic mice models, and CSF concentration measurements.
Source
Biochemical regulation of non-rapid-eye-movement sleep
James M. Krueger · Frontiers in bioscience · 2003
DOI 10.2741/1033
narrative_reviewCited 333×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Adenosine acts as a primary sleep-promoting factor by inhibiting wake-active cholinergic neurons in the basal forebrain via A1 receptors and stimulating sleep-active neurons in the ventrolateral preoptic area (VLPO) via A2 receptors, with extracellular concentrations increasing during wakefulness and decreasing during sleep.Strong
- Delta sleep-inducing peptide (DSIP), uridine, oxidized glutathione, and muramyl peptides were identified as early 'sleep factors' through transfer experiments, but they lack a determined physiological sleep regulatory role compared to adenosine and PGD2.Moderate
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