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ABSTRACT
Essentially, sleep is a behavioral state. It is estimated that an individual spends approximately one third of his life time in sleep. We have knowledge that sleep is part of the daily routine in everyone even when the normal sleep and wake cycle ( or pattern) is disrupted by outside factors. Sleep can be defined as an "active state of unconsciousness produced by the body where the brain is in a relative state of rest and is reactive primarily to internal stimulus. It is distinguished from wakefulness by a decreased ability to react to stimuli, but more reactive than a coma or disorders of consciousness, with sleep displaying very different and active brain patterns. The term Cola- nitida usually refers to the seeds of certain species of the genus cola, placed formerly in the cocoa family sterculieceae and now usually subsumed in the mallow family Malvaceae ( as subfamily sterculioideae). The Cola nitida is a caffeine- containing nut of evergreen trees of the genus cola, primarily of the species cola acuminata and cola nitida. Cola nitida contains about 2-4% caffeine and threobromine as well as tannins, alkaloids, saponins and flavonoids. Sodium thiopental is an ultra- short- acting barbiturate and has been used commonly in the induction phase of general anesthesia. In veterinary medicine, sodium thiopental is used to induce anesthesia in animals. This research work is carried out with the aim of evaluating and comparing the effects of varying doses of administered aqueous extract of cola- nitida on sodium thiopental induced sleep pattern in wistar rats. Healthy adult rats of comparable size, weight and age were employed to examine the onset time ( Sleep latency) and the duration of thiopental sodium- induced sleep in posttreated doses of aqueous extract of cola nitida. The time of the onset and duration of the induced sleep were computing in varying doses of aqueous extract of cola-nitida. The results showed that there was statistically significant difference (P> 0.05) in the onset of sleep across the groups and there was statistically significant decreased (P>0.05) in the duration of sleep in all the groups, when compared to the control group. The onset time of the induced sleep were significantly different in higher doses of aqueous extract of Cola nitida, while the sleep duration were decreased in higher doses of aqueous extract of Cola nitida. It was concluded that the extract of Cola nitida contains caffeine that could account for the observed potentiating influence on the induced sleep.
