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Sustained ingestion of methadone and the sleep of monkeys

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Abstract

Methadone HCl was administered daily to four stump-tailed macaques. The animals' sleep was periodically examined throughout a year of methadone maintenance and, in two animals, during eight months of withdrawal. REM sleep was substantially decreased by methadone treatment and gradually returned to predrug values over a 6-to 8-month period of maintenance. Measures of non-REM sleep and awakenings showed similar disruption with no return to predrug values. These changes were not correlated with alterations in plasma-methadone concentrations. REM sleep rebound occurred temporarily upon drug with-drawal in two animals, but no consistent sleep disruption was apparent during the subsequent eight months. Contrary to some suggestions, therefore, tolerance to the sleep-disruptive effects of the drug may be specific and incomplete, and extended REM rebound upon withdrawal is not a universal response.

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  1. Veterans Administration Hospital and University of Utah, 84148, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

    E. W. Snyder, R. E. Dustman & E. C. Beck

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  1. E. W. Snyder
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  2. R. E. Dustman
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  3. E. C. Beck
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Snyder, E.W., Dustman, R.E. & Beck, E.C. Sustained ingestion of methadone and the sleep of monkeys. Psychopharmacology 60, 29–34 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00429175

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00429175

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