Sustained sleep deprivation impairs host defense. Am J Physiol 1993 Nov;265(5 Pt 2):R1148-54
Date
11/01/1993Pubmed ID
8238617DOI
10.1152/ajpregu.1993.265.5.R1148Scopus ID
2-s2.0-0027428734 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 256 CitationsAbstract
Prolonged sleep deprivation in rats causes an unexplained hypercatabolic state, secondary malnutrition symptoms, and mortality. The nature of the vital impairment has long been a mystery. Its determination would help to elucidate the type of organic dysfunction that sleep prevents. There are no gross detectable disturbances in intermediary metabolism, clinical chemistry, or hematological indexes that provide substantial clues to the mediation of sleep-deprivation effects. Furthermore, postmortem examinations reveal no systematic morphological or histopathological findings. Taken together, the cachexia and the absence of evidence of structural damage or organ dysfunction pointed to involvement of a regulatory system that was diffuse, possibly the immune system. Blood cultures revealed invasion by opportunistic microbes to which there was no febrile response. These results suggest that the life-threatening condition of prolonged sleep deprivation is a breakdown of host defense against indigenous and pathogenic microorganisms.
Author List
Everson CAAuthor
Carol A. Everson PhD Professor in the Medicine department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AnimalsBody Temperature
Body Weight
Electroencephalography
Electromyography
Feeding Behavior
Male
Rats
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Reference Values
Sleep Deprivation
Sleep Stages
Theta Rhythm
Time Factors
Wakefulness
