The composition of sleep-promoting factor isolated from human urine

Abstract

A sleep-promoting substance, Factor S, has been extracted and purified from large volumes of human urine. Urinary Factor S is a small glycopeptide; amino acid-amino sugar analyses of the purified material revealed a substance composed of glutamic acid, alanine, diaminopimelic acid, and muramic acid in molar ratios of 2:2:1:1. The active glycopeptide resembles bacterial peptidoglycans but the composition suggests that it is not simply of adventitious origin. Other reasons for this conclusion are also given. Infusions into the lateral ventricle of the brain of about 5 pmol/kg of body weight induce a 50% increase in slow wave sleep in rabbits. The excess sleep is normal as judged by electrophysiological and behavioral criteria; it resembles the deep sleep that occurs when animals are allowed to sleep following prolonged sleep deprivation.