Influenza virus-induced sleep responses in mice with targeted disruptions in neuronal or inducible nitric oxide synthases

2004 ◽  
Vol 97 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lichao Chen ◽  
Deborah Duricka ◽  
Scott Nelson ◽  
Sanjib Mukherjee ◽  
Stewart G. Bohnet ◽  
...  

Influenza viral infection induces increases in non-rapid eye movement sleep and decreases in rapid eye movement sleep in normal mice. An array of cytokines is produced during the infection, and some of them, such as IL-1β and TNF-α, are well-defined somnogenic substances. It is suggested that nitric oxide (NO) may mediate the sleep-promoting effects of these cytokines. In this study, we use mice with targeted disruptions of either the neuronal NO synthase (nNOS) or the inducible NO synthase (iNOS) gene, commonly referred to as nNOS or iNOS knockouts (KOs), to investigate sleep changes after influenza viral challenge. We report that the magnitude of viral-induced non-rapid eye movement sleep responses in both nNOS KOs and iNOS KOs was less than that of their respective controls. In addition, the duration of rapid eye movement sleep in nNOS KO mice did not decrease compared with baseline values. All strains of mice had similar viral titers and cytokine gene expression profiles in the lungs. Virus was not isolated from the brains of any strain. However, gene expression in the brain stem differed between nNOS KOs and their controls: mRNA for the interferon-induced gene 2′,5′-oligoadenylate synthase 1a was elevated in nNOS KOs relative to their controls at 15 h, and IL-1β mRNA was elevated in nNOS KOs relative to their controls at 48 h. Our results suggest that NO synthesized by both nNOS and iNOS plays a role in virus-induced sleep changes and that nNOS may modulate cytokine expression in the brain.

2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 384-392 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica M. Gill ◽  
Hyunhwa Lee ◽  
Tristin Baxter ◽  
Swarnalatha Y. Reddy ◽  
Taura Barr ◽  
...  

Sleep disturbance is a common and disturbing symptom in military personnel, with many individuals progressing to the development of insomnia, which is characterized by increased arousals, wakefulness after sleep onset, and distorted sleep architecture. The molecular mechanisms underlying insomnia remain elusive, limiting future therapeutic development to address this critical issue. We examined whole gene expression profiles associated with insomnia. We compared subjects with insomnia ( n = 25) to controls ( n = 13) without insomnia using microarray gene expression profiles obtained from peripheral samples of whole blood obtained from military personnel. Compared to controls, participants with insomnia had differential expression of 44 transcripts from 43 identified genes. Among the identified genes, urotensin 2 was downregulated by more than 6 times in insomnia participants, and the fold-change remained significant after controlling for depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, and medication use. Urotensin 2 is involved in regulation of orexin A and B activity and rapid eye movement during sleep. These findings suggest that differential expression of these sleep-regulating genes contributes to symptoms of insomnia and, specifically, that switching between rapid eye movement and nonrapid eye movement sleep stages underlies insomnia symptoms. Future work to identify therapeutic agents that are able to regulate these pathways may provide novel treatments for insomnia.


2009 ◽  
Vol 84 (4) ◽  
pp. 271-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miyuki Shimada ◽  
Satomi Kameo ◽  
Norio Sugawara ◽  
Kozue Yaginuma-Sakurai ◽  
Naoyuki Kurokawa ◽  
...  

2003 ◽  
Vol 285 (1) ◽  
pp. R99-R109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hitoshi Yoshida ◽  
Takeshi Kubota ◽  
James M. Krueger

Sleep is regulated in part by the brain cytokine network, including tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). TNF-α activates the transcription factor nuclear factor-κB, which in turn promotes transcription of many genes, including cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). COX-2 is in the brain and is an enzyme responsible for production of prostaglandin D2. The hypothesis that central COX-2 plays a role in the regulation of spontaneous and TNF-α-induced sleep was investigated. Three doses (0.5, 5, and 50 μg) of NS-398, a highly selective COX-2 inhibitor, were injected intracerebroventricularly. The highest dose decreased non-rapid eye movement sleep. The intermediate and highest doses decreased electroencephalographic slow-wave activity; the greatest reduction occurred after 50 μg of NS-398 during the first 3-h postinjection period. Rapid eye movement sleep and brain temperature were not altered by any dose of NS-398. Pretreatment of rabbits with 5 or 50 μg of NS-398 blocked the TNF-α-induced increases in non-rapid eye movement sleep, electroencephalographic slow-wave activity, and brain temperature. These data suggest that COX-2 is involved in the regulation of spontaneous and TNF-α-induced sleep.


1994 ◽  
Vol 266 (1) ◽  
pp. R151-R157 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Kapas ◽  
M. Shibata ◽  
M. Kimura ◽  
J. M. Krueger

The effects of N omega-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), an inhibitor of nitric oxide synthesis, on spontaneous and interleukin-1 (IL-1)-induced sleep were examined in rabbits. Animals were injected intracerebroventricularly or intravenously during the light phase with vehicle, L-NAME, IL-1, or the combination of L-NAME and IL-1. Injection of L-NAME (5 mg icv and 100 mg/kg iv) suppressed both non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREMS) and rapid eye movement sleep (REMS) for 4-6 h. The sleep-suppressive effects are unlikely due to pressor responses to L-NAME because administration of L-NAME (5 mg icv) produced only a transient (3-4 min) slight increase in systemic blood pressure. Injection of IL-1 (20 ng icv) elicited fever, suppressed REMS, and increased NREMS for 6 h. NREMS was suppressed for 3 h after the combined intracerebroventricular injections of 5 mg L-NAME and 20 ng IL-1 and was elevated during postinjection hours 4-6. Administration of IL-1 (30 ng/kg iv) increased NREMS and brain temperature for 2 h. After the combined injection of IL-1 and L-NAME (100 mg/kg), NREMS was significantly suppressed during postinjection hours 1-5. It is not known whether the interactions between the sleep-suppressive effects of L-NAME and the NREMS-promoting effects of IL-1 are specific, being mediated via a common mechanism, or whether they are additive, being mediated via independent mechanisms. The pyrogenic and REMS-suppressive actions of either intracerebroventricularly or intravenously injected IL-1 were not affected by L-NAME.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


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