Progress on Determination and Analysis of Zopiclone in Biological Samples / 法医学杂志

As a new hypnotic, zopiclone is widely used in clinical treatment. There are many methods for determination of zopiclone, including spectrophotometry, chromatography and chromatography mass spectrum, etc. Present paper reviews different kinds of biological samples associated with zopiclone, ex-traction and purification methods, and determination and analysis methods, which aims to provide refer-ences for the relevant research and practice.

Eszopiclone versus zopiclone in the treatment of insomnia

OBJECTIVE: To determine the therapeutic effects of two selective GABA-A agonists, zopiclone and eszopiclone, in the treatment of insomnia. METHODS: This study comprised a phase III, single-center, randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, parallel-group, non-inferiority trial. Patients were randomized to receive zopiclone 7.5 mg or eszopiclone 3 mg, both orally, for four weeks. In total, 199 patients were evaluated during two visits and then followed for at least six weeks. The primary endpoint was the Insomnia Severity Index after four weeks of treatment. Secondary endpoints were obtained through polysomnography data, including total sleep time, sleep latency and sleep efficiency. The frequency of adverse events was also analyzed. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01100164. RESULTS: The primary efficacy analysis demonstrated the non-inferiority of eszopiclone over zopiclone. Analysis of objective parameters assessed by polysomnography showed that eszopiclone increased total sleep time and also improved sleep efficiency. The safety profile of both study treatments was similar and the most common events reported in both groups were dysgeusia, headache, dizziness, irritability and nausea. Adverse events were observed in 223 patients, 109 (85.2%) in the eszopiclone group and 114 (87.7%) in the zopiclone group. CONCLUSION: Based on the Insomnia Severity Index at the end of four weeks of treatment, eszopiclone demonstrated efficacy comparable to that of zopiclone in the treatment of insomnia, increasing total sleep time as well as sleep efficiency according to polysomnography.

Sleep-regulating technique of low resistance thought imprint psychotherapy for insomnia / 国际中医中药杂志

Objective To evaluate the efficacy of sleep-regulating technique of low resistance thought imprint psychotherapy (TIP3-2) for insomnia. Methods A total of 120 patients with insomnia were enrolled and randomly allocated to either a treatment group (60 patients) or a control group (30 patients). The patients in the treatment group and the control group were treated by TIP3-2 and zopiclone for 4 weeks, respectively. The therapeutic effect was evaluated using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), polysomnography and the self-made sleep confidence scale. Results A total of 79 patients in the treatment group and 28 patients in the control group completed treatment. PSQI scores showed that overall sleep quality (1.3 ± 0.65 vs. 1.8 ± 0.50;t=6.378, P=0.000), daytime function (1.5 ± 0.89 vs. 2.1 ± 0.66;t=13.624, P=0.000) and total score (9.6 ± 3.35 vs. 12.4 ± 2.83;t=22.124, P=0.000) in the treatment group were significantly improved compared with the control group. Polysomnography showed significant difference between two groups in the times of awakening (3.4 ± 2.49 vs. 4.2 ± 4.02;t=4.196, P=0.043), and the percentages of sleep stages 1 and 2 (stage 1:35.0%± 19.42%vs. 43.0%± 23.31%, t=4.593, P=0.034;stage 2:40.3%± 16.47%vs. 34.9%± 16.57%, t=4.255, P=0.042). The total score of the sleep confidence scale in the treatment group showed a significantly improvement compared with the control group (8.6 ± 5.85 vs. 12.8 ± 3.84, t=11.346, P=0.001). Conclusion TIP3-2 can improve sleep confidence, have certain efficacy for insomnia, and may be superior to zopiclone.