Zaleplon drug administration

Timing of drug administration Take zaleplon immediately before bedtime or after going to bed and experiencing difficulty falling asleep. As with all sedatives/hypnotics, taking zaleplon while ambulatory may result in short-term memory impairment, hallucinations, impaired coordination, dizziness, and lightheadedness. 

Tumorigenicity Data from controlled trials have been analysed to determine whether hypnotics can cause cancer [41 ]. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Approval History and Documents were accessed for zaleplon, eszopiclone, Zolpidem, and ramelteon. Incident cancers that occurred during randomized administration or placebo administration were... 

This newest non-BZD hypnotic is a pyrazolopyrimidine derivative with a fuii agonist activity on centrai BZD receptors B2 type. It is an effective hypnotic for the short-term treatment of insomnia. Because of its very short half-life (almost an hour), it may be useful for patients experiencing difficulty falling asleep and in those who wake up at night and who have trouble falling back to sleep. Zaleplon is rapidly absorbed after oral administration and its mean, apparent elimination half-life is similar to that obtained after i.v. infusion. Zaleplon is extensively metabolized in the liver by aldehyde oxidase, and to a lesser extent by CYP3A4. This drug is excreted in the urine (156). 

Tolerance—decreased responsiveness to a drug following repeated exposure—is a common feature of sedative-hypnotic use. It may result in the need for an increase in the dose required to maintain symptomatic improvement or to promote sleep. It is important to recognize that partial cross-tolerance occurs between the sedative-hypnotics described here and also with ethanol (see Chapter 23)—a feature of some clinical importance, as explained below. The mechanisms responsible for tolerance to sedative-hypnotics are not well understood. An increase in the rate of drug metabolism (metabolic tolerance) may be partly responsible in the case of chronic administration of barbiturates, but changes in responsiveness of the central nervous system (pharmacodynamic tolerance) are of greater importance for most sedative-hypnotics. In the case of benzodiazepines, the development of tolerance in animals has been associated with down-regulation of brain benzodiazepine receptors. Tolerance has been reported to occur with the extended use of zolpidem. Minimal tolerance was observed with the use of zaleplon over a 5-week period and eszopiclone over a 6-month period. 

---