ArticlePloS one2017
Triethylene glycol, an active component of Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) leaves, is responsible for sleep induction.
Article in PloS one, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 54 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects ofNutrients · 2023Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Effect of Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) extract on sleep: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2021Pooled it
- Ayurveda Treatments for Insomnia: A Narrative Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Potential Adverse Effects of Ashwagandha: A Critical Review of Preclinical and Clinical Evidence.Phytotherapy research : PTR · 2026Review
- Mouse neuronal dendritic complexity and resilience to stress-induced depression in Drosophila melanogaster are enhanced by Withania somnifera alkaloids.Journal of ethnopharmacology · 2026Article
- Review
- Ashwagandha (Nutrients · 2025Review
- Lemon Verbena Extract Enhances Sleep Quality and Duration via Modulation of Adenosine A1 and GABAInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Reproductive and developmental safety assessment of Ashwagandha (Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Article
- Review
- Article
- Sleep-promoting activity of amylase-treated Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera L. Dunal) root extract via GABA receptors.Journal of food and drug analysis · 2023Article
- AshwagandhaPharmaceutics · 2023Review
- Study of Drug Target Identification and Associated Molecular Mechanisms for the Therapeutic Activity and Hair Follicle Induction of Two Ashwagandha Extracts Having Differential Withanolide Constitutions.Journal of nutrition and metabolism · 2023Article
- Article
- Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal whole-plant extract demonstrates acceptable non-clinical safety in rat 28-day subacute toxicity evaluation under GLP-compliance.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Effects ofCurrent neuropharmacology · 2021Review
- Article
- Evaluation of the Sleep-Prolonging Effect of Lagenaria vulgaris and Cucurbita pepo Extracts on Pentobarbital-Induced Sleep and Possible Mechanisms of Action.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Insomnia is the most common sleep complaint which occurs due to difficulty in falling asleep or maintaining it. Most of currently available drugs for insomnia develop dependency and/or adverse effects. Hence natural therapies could be an alternative choice of treatment for insomnia. The root or whole plant extract of Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) has been used to induce sleep in Indian system of traditional home medicine, Ayurveda. However, its active somnogenic components remain unidentified. We investigated the effect of various components of Ashwagandha leaf on sleep regulation by oral administration in mice. We found that the alcoholic extract that contained high amount of active withanolides was ineffective to induce sleep in mice. However, the water extract which contain triethylene glycol as a major component induced significant amount of non-rapid eye movement sleep with slight change in rapid eye movement sleep. Commercially available triethylene glycol also increased non-rapid eye movement sleep in mice in a dose-dependent (10-30 mg/mouse) manner. These results clearly demonstrated that triethylene glycol is an active sleep-inducing component of Ashwagandha leaves and could potentially be useful for insomnia therapy.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.