With the aim of finding solutions for insomnia, which plagues more people and causes strain on public health, Thomasian researchers conducted a review of journal articles published in reputable journals and databases to find plants that exhibit sleep-enhancing activities. Studying plant-based alternatives may pose fewer side effects, the researchers contended.
Academic researchers Prof. Agnes Llamasares-Castillo, PhD, Prof. Ross D. Vasquez, PhD, Assoc. Prof. Oliver B. Villaflores, PhD, all from the Faculty of Pharmacy and the Research Center for the Natural and Applied Sciences, joined co-researchers from Singapore’s DELIGHTEX PTE LTD., namely Yutaka Kuroki, Aya Wada, Xinyi Zhu, and UST research assistants Kyle Andrei Cabatit, Jonah Joshua Garcia, and Janelan Martin.
The researchers were able to find thirty-nine plants with sleep-enhancing activities, such as Lactuca sativa, Nelumbo nucifera, and Ziziphus jujuba. The authors found that these plants “demonstrated consistent efficacy in improving sleep quality through interactions with the GABAergic system.” Though thirty-nine plants were identified in the reviewed studies, the researchers caution that “most studies are still preliminary, with the molecular mechanisms behind their sleep-enhancing effects remaining inconclusive.”
The researchers published on February 27, 2025 the review entitled “Phytotherapeutic agents for insomnia: A scoping review on the mechanistic insights and evidence from animal models” in Phytomedicine Plus, indexed in Elsevier. The study is in line with phase 1 of the project funded by Singapore’s DELIGHTEX PTE LTD.
