Doxepin and diphenhydramine increased non-rapid eye movement sleep through blockade of histamine H1 receptors

Histaminergic neurons have been reported to play an important role in the regulation of sleep–wake behavior through the histamine H1 receptor (R, H1R). First generation H1R antagonists, such as doxepin and diphenhydramine, produce drowsiness in humans, and are occasionally used to treat insomnia. However, if H1R antagonists function via physically blocking the H1R remains unclear. In the current study, we used H1R knockout (KO) mice to investigate if the sleep-promoting effects of doxepin and diphenhydramine are dependent on blockade of the H1R. When doxepin was administered, non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep in wild type (WT) mice increased for 4h, with an increase in the numbers of NREM sleep bouts of 256–512s and 512–1024s. These effects were not observed in the H1R KO mice. Furthermore, diphenhydramine increased NREM sleep for 6h in WT, and not in the H1R KO mice after the injection. These results indicate that both doxepin at 15mg/kg and diphenhydramine at 10mg/kg induce NREM sleep through blockade of H1R.