Influence of long-term food restriction on sleep pattern in male rats

The Effects of Different Modalities of an Acute Energy Deficit on Sleep and Next Morning Appetitive and Compensatory Behavior in Healthy Young Adults: The EDIES Protocol

Sleep is bi-directionally linked to energy balance. This crossover study design will evaluate the acute effect of a moderate energy deficit (500 kcal) induced by diet, exercise, or mixed (-250 kcal by diet and 250 kcal by exercise) on sleep and the next morning's appetitive responses. The study sample comprises 24 healthy young adults. The experimental measurements will be conducted in a naturalistic, momentary manner and partly assessed by the participants. The participants will undergo a run-in period in order to stabilize their sleep schedules and provide them with training on the study protocol and measurements. Indirect calorimetry will be used to determine their resting metabolic rate and peak oxygen consumption (VO₂ peak). Then, they will take part in a control session (CTL), followed by three energy deficit sessions in random order: a diet-induced energy deficit session (DED), an exercise-induced energy deficit session (EED), and a mixed energy deficit session (MED). All experimental sessions will be separated by a one-week washout. The participants' sleep will be monitored by ambulatory polysomnography, and the next morning's appetitive response will be evaluated via ad libitum food intake, appetite sensations, and food reward, measured by a food liking and wanting computerized test.

Paying the brain's energy bill

How have animals managed to maintain metabolically expensive brains given the volatile and fleeting availability of calories in the natural world? Here we review studies in support of three strategies that involve: 1) a reallocation of energy from peripheral tissues and functions to cover the costs of the brain, 2) an implementation of energy-efficient neural coding, enabling the brain to operate at reduced energy costs, and 3) efficient use of costly neural resources during food scarcity. Collectively, these studies reveal a heterogeneous set of energy-saving mechanisms that make energy-costly brains fit for survival.

From Reductionism Toward Integration: Understanding How Social Behavior Emerges From Integrated Circuits

Complex social behaviors are emergent properties of the brain's interconnected and overlapping neural networks. Questions aimed at understanding how brain circuits produce specific and appropriate behaviors have changed over the past half century, shifting from studies of gross anatomical and behavioral associations, to manipulating and monitoring precisely targeted cell types. This technical progression has enabled increasingly deep insights into the regulation of perception and behavior with remarkable precision. The capacity of reductionist approaches to identify the function of isolated circuits is undeniable but many behaviors require rapid integration of diverse inputs. This review examines progress toward understanding integrative social circuits and focuses on specific nodes of the social behavior network including the medial amygdala, ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) and medial preoptic area of the hypothalamus (MPOA) as examples of broad integration between multiple interwoven brain circuits. Our understanding of mechanisms for producing social behavior has deepened in conjunction with advances in technologies for visualizing and manipulating specific neurons and, here, we consider emerging strategies to address brain circuit function in the context of integrative anatomy.

The responses of metabolic rate and neuropeptides to food deprivation in striped hamsters (Cricetulus barabensis) with different basal metabolic rate

High basal metabolic rate (BMR) is related to a powerful metabolic engine even under food shortage, which can lead to high levels of daily energy expenditure and requires more energy for maintenance in small mammals. To test the hypothesis that animals with different BMR levels respond differently to food shortage, we compared the changes in metabolism, morphology, and gene expression in response to food deprivation (FD) in male-striped hamsters (Cricetulus barabensis) with low (L)- or high (H)-BMR levels. After 36 hr of FD, energy expenditure, metabolic rate (MR), mass of body composition, and leptin and agouti-related peptide gene expressions in the white adipose tissues and the hypothalamus, respectively, decreased significantly in hamsters. The energy expenditure of H-BMR hamsters was reduced more than that of L-BMR hamsters after 36 hr of FD. Furthermore, MR was significantly reduced by FD, and that of the H-BMR group decreased more than that of the L-BMR group during the daytime. Therefore, our data suggest that striped hamsters with different BMR display different responses to variations in food availability. During FD, MR in H-BMR hamsters was more flexible than that in L-BMR animals and L-BMR hamsters could not reduce their MR any lower.

Exploring phylogeny to find the function of sleep

During sleep, animals do not eat, reproduce or forage. Sleeping animals are vulnerable to predation. Yet, the persistence of sleep despite evolutionary pressures, and the deleterious effects of sleep deprivation, indicate that sleep serves a function or functions that cannot easily be bypassed. Recent research demonstrates sleep to be phylogenetically far more pervasive than previously appreciated; it is possible that the very first animals slept. Here, we give an overview of sleep across various species, with the aim of determining its original purpose. Sleep exists in animals without cephalized nervous systems and can be influenced by non-neuronal signals, including those associated with metabolic rhythms. Together, these observations support the notion that sleep serves metabolic functions in neural and non-neural tissues.

Circadian disruption and human health: A bidirectional relationship

Circadian rhythm disorders have been classically associated with disorders of abnormal timing of the sleep-wake cycle, however circadian dysfunction can play a role in a wide range of pathology, ranging from the increased risk for cardiometabolic disease and malignancy in shift workers, prompting the need for a new field focused on the larger concept of circadian medicine. The relationship between circadian disruption and human health is bidirectional, with changes in circadian amplitude often preceding the classical symptoms of neurodegenerative disorders. As our understanding of the importance of circadian dysfunction in disease grows, we need to develop better clinical techniques for identifying circadian rhythms and also develop circadian based strategies for disease management. Overall this review highlights the need to bring the concept of time to all aspects of medicine, emphasizing circadian medicine as a prime example of both personalized and precision medicine.

Hypothalamic Neurons that Regulate Feeding Can Influence Sleep/Wake States Based on Homeostatic Need

Eating and sleeping represent two mutually exclusive behaviors that satisfy distinct homeostatic needs. Because an animal cannot eat and sleep at the same time, brain systems that regulate energy homeostasis are likely to influence sleep/wake behavior. Indeed, previous studies indicate that animals adjust sleep cycles around periods of food need and availability. Furthermore, hormones that affect energy homeostasis also affect sleep/wake states: the orexigenic hormone ghrelin promotes wakefulness, and the anorexigenic hormones leptin and insulin increase the duration of slow-wave sleep. However, whether neural populations that regulate feeding can influence sleep/wake states is unknown. The hypothalamic arcuate nucleus contains two neuronal populations that exert opposing effects on energy homeostasis: agouti-related protein (AgRP)-expressing neurons detect caloric need and orchestrate food-seeking behavior, whereas activity in pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC)-expressing neurons induces satiety. We tested the hypotheses that AgRP neurons affect sleep homeostasis by promoting states of wakefulness, whereas POMC neurons promote states of sleep. Indeed, optogenetic or chemogenetic stimulation of AgRP neurons in mice promoted wakefulness while decreasing the quantity and integrity of sleep. Inhibition of AgRP neurons rescued sleep integrity in food-deprived mice, highlighting the physiological importance of AgRP neuron activity for the suppression of sleep by hunger. Conversely, stimulation of POMC neurons promoted sleep states and decreased sleep fragmentation in food-deprived mice. Interestingly, we also found that sleep deprivation attenuated the effects of AgRP neuron activity on food intake and wakefulness. These results indicate that homeostatic feeding neurons can hierarchically affect behavioral outcomes, depending on homeostatic need.

Energy Scarcity Promotes a Brain-wide Sleep State Modulated by Insulin Signaling in C. elegans

Neural information processing entails a high energetic cost, but its maintenance is crucial for animal survival. However, the brain’s energy conservation strategies are incompletely understood. Employing functional brain-wide imaging and quantitative behavioral assays, we describe a neuronal strategy in Caenorhabditis elegans that balances energy availability and expenditure. Upon acute food deprivation, animals exhibit a transiently elevated state of arousal, indicated by foraging behaviors and increased responsiveness to food-related cues. In contrast, long-term starvation suppresses these behaviors and biases animals to intermittent sleep episodes. Brain-wide neuronal population dynamics, which are likely energetically costly but important for behavior, are robust to starvation while animals are awake. However, during starvation-induced sleep, brain dynamics are systemically downregulated. Neuromodulation via insulin-like signaling is required to transiently maintain the animals’ arousal state upon acute food deprivation. Our data suggest that the regulation of sleep and wakefulness supports optimal energy allocation.

•

Starvation shifts the behavioral strategy from exploration to intermittent sleep

•

Brain-wide neuronal population dynamics are robust to starvation

•

Neuromodulation via insulin signaling maintains wakefulness during short fasting

•

The insulin receptor DAF-2 acts in a network of sensory neurons and interneurons

Effects of random food deprivation and refeeding on energy metabolism, behavior and hypothalamic neuropeptide expression in Apodemus chevrieri

Maintaining adaptive control of behavior and physiology is the main strategy used by animals in responding to changes of food resources. To investigate the effects of random food deprivation (FD) and refeeding on energy metabolism and behavior in Apodemus chevrieri, we acclimated adult males to FD for 4weeks, then refed them ad libitum for 4weeks (FD-Re group). During the period of FD, animals were fed ad libitum for 4 randomly assigned days each week, and deprived of food the other 3days. A control group was fed ad libitum for 8weeks. At 4 and 8weeks we measured body mass, thermogenesis, serum leptin levels, body composition, gastrointestinal tract morphology, behavior and hypothalamic neuropeptide expression. At 4weeks, food intake, gastrointestinal mass, neuropeptide Y (NPY) and agouti-related protein (AgRP) mRNA expressions increased and thermogenesis, leptin levels, pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) and cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript (CART) expressions decreased in FD compared with controls. FD also showed more resting behavior and less activity than the controls on ad libitum day. There were no differences between FD-Re and controls at 8weeks, indicating significant plasticity. These results suggested that animals can compensate for unpredictable reduction in food availability by increasing food intake and reducing energy expended through thermogenesis and activity. Leptin levels, NPY, AgRP, POMC, and CART mRNA levels may also regulate energy metabolism. Significant plasticity in energy metabolism and behavior was shown by A. chevrieri over a short timescale, allowing them to adapt to food shortages in nutritionally unpredictable environments.

Temporal Organization of the Sleep-Wake Cycle under Food Entrainment in the Rat

STUDY OBJECTIVES

To analyze the temporal organization of the sleep-wake cycle under food entrainment in the rat.

METHODS

Eighteen male Sprague-Dawley rats were chronically implanted for polysomnographic recording. During the baseline (BL) protocol, rats were recorded under a 12:12 light-dark (LD) schedule in individual isolation chambers with food and water ad libitum. Food entrainment was performed by means of a 4-h food restriction (FR) protocol starting at photic zeitgeber time 5. Eight animals underwent a 3-h phase advance of the FR protocol (A-FR). We compared the mean curves and acrophases of wakefulness, NREM sleep, and REM sleep under photic and food entrainment and after a phase advance in scheduled food delivery. We further evaluated the dynamics of REM sleep homeostasis and the NREM sleep EEG delta wave profile.

RESULTS

A prominent food-anticipatory arousal interval was observed after nine or more days of FR, characterized by increased wakefulness and suppression of REM sleep propensity and dampening of NREM sleep EEG delta activity. REM sleep exhibited a robust nocturnal phase preference under FR that was not explained by a nocturnal REM sleep rebound. The mean curve of sleep-wake states and NREM sleep EEG delta activity remained phase-locked to the timing of meals during the A-FR protocol.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results support the hypothesis that under food entrainment, the sleep-wake cycle is coupled to a food-entrainable oscillator (FEO). Our findings suggest an unexpected interaction between FEO output and NREM sleep EEG delta activity generators.

Plasticity in food intake, thermogenesis and body mass in the tree shrew (Tupaia belangeri) is affected by food restriction and refeeding

Physiological adjustments are important strategies for small mammals in response to variation in food availability. To determine the physiological mechanisms affected by food restriction and refeeding, tree shrews were restricted to 85% of initial food intake for 4 weeks and refedad libitumfor another 4 weeks. Changes in food intake, body mass, thermogenesis, body composition, mitochondrial cytochromecoxidase activity, uncoupling protein-1 content in brown adipose tissue and serum leptin levels were measured. The results showed that body mass, body fat mass and serum leptin levels significantly decreased in food restricted tree shrews, and increased when the restriction ended, showing a short “compensatory growth” rather than over-weight or obesity compared withad libitumcontrols. Resting metabolic rate, non-shivering thermogenesis, brown adipose tissue mass (mg), and uncoupling protein-1 content decreased significantly in response to food restriction, and returned to the control levels after the animals were refedad libitum, while the brown adipose tissue mass (%) and cytochromecoxidase activity remained stable during food restriction and refeeding. Food intake increased shortly after refeeding, which perhaps contributed to the rapid regaining of body mass. These results suggest thatTupaia belangerican adjust the status of its physiology integratively to cope with the lack of food by means of decreasing body mass, thermogenesis and serum leptin levels. Leptin may act as a starvation signal to predominantly mediate the reduction in body mass and energy expenditure.

Ketone body metabolism and sleep homeostasis in mice

A link has been established between energy metabolism and sleep homeostasis. The ketone bodies acetoacetate and β-hydroxybutyrate, generated from the breakdown of fatty acids, are major metabolic fuels for the brain under conditions of low glucose availability. Ketogenesis is modulated by the activity of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARα), and treatment with a PPAR activator has been shown to induce a marked increase in plasma acetoacetate and decreased β-hydroxybutyrate in mice, accompanied by increased slow-wave activity during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. The present study investigated the role of ketone bodies in sleep regulation. Six-hour sleep deprivation increased plasma ketone bodies and their ratio (acetoacetate/β-hydroxybutyrate) in 10-week-old male mice. Moreover, sleep deprivation increased mRNA expression of ketogenic genes such as PPARα and 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutarate-CoA synthase 2 in the brain and decreased ketolytic enzymes such as succinyl-CoA: 3-oxoacid CoA transferase. In addition, central injection of acetoacetate, but not β-hydroxybutyrate, markedly increased slow-wave activity during NREM sleep and suppressed glutamate release. Central metabolism of ketone bodies, especially acetoacetate, appears to play a role in the regulation of sleep homeostasis.

Energy budget, behavior and leptin in striped hamsters subjected to food restriction and refeeding

Food restriction induces a loss of body mass that is often followed by rapid regaining of the lost weight when the restriction ends, consequently increasing a risk of development of obesity. To determine the physiological and behavioral mechanisms underlining the regaining, striped hamsters were restricted to 85% of initial food intake for 4 weeks and refed ad libitum for another 4 weeks. Changes in body mass, energy budget, activity, body composition and serum leptin level were measured. Body mass, body fat mass and serum leptin level significantly decreased in food-restricted hamsters, and increased when the restriction ended, showing a short “compensatory growth” rather than over-weight or obesity compared with ad libitum controls. During restriction, the time spent on activity increased significantly, which was opposite to the changes in serum leptin level. Food intake increased shortly during refeeding, which perhaps contributed to the rapid regaining of body mass. No correlation was observed between serum leptin and energy intake, while negative correlations were found in hamsters that were refed for 7 and 28 days. Exogenous leptin significantly decreased the time spent on activity during food restriction and attenuated the increase in food intake during refeeding. This suggests that low leptin in restricted animals may function as a starvation signal to induce an increase in activity behavior, and high leptin likely serves as a satiety signal to prevent activity during refeeding. Leptin may play a crucial role in controlling food intake when the restriction ends, and consequently preventing overweight.

Effects of dietary resveratrol on the sleep-wake cycle in the non-human primate gray mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus)

Converging evidence shows that the non-human primate gray mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus) is ideal for the study of the aging process and for testing the effects of new therapies and dietary interventions on age-associated pathologies. One such dietary supplement is resveratrol (RSV), a dietary polyphenolic compound with several positive effects on metabolic functions and longevity. However, little is known about the effect of RSV on the lemur sleep-wake cycle, which reflects mammalian brain function and health. In the present study, the authors investigated this effect by comparing sleep-wake cycles in adult lemurs based on electroencephalographic (EEG) rhythms. The effect of short-term RSV supplementation on the sleep-wake cycle of mouse lemurs was evaluated in entrained conditions (long-day photoperiods, light:dark 14:10). After 3 wks of RSV supplementation, the animals exhibited a significantly increased proportion of active-wake time, occurring mainly during the resting phase of the sleep-wake cycle (+163%). The increase in active-wake time with RSV supplementation was accompanied by a significant reduction of both paradoxical sleep (-95%) and slow-wave sleep (-38%). These changes mainly occurred during the resting phase of the sleep-wake cycle (RSV supplementation induced negligible changes in active-wake time during the active phase of the sleep-wake cycle). The present data suggest that RSV may be a potent regulator of sleep-wake rhythms and could be of major interest in the study of sleep perturbations associated with aging and neuropathology.

Influence of food restriction on lipid profile and spontaneous glucose levels in male rats subjected to paradoxical sleep deprivation

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this study was to determine the paired consequences of food restriction and paradoxical sleep deprivation on lipid profile and spontaneous glucose levels in male rats.

METHOD

Food restriction began at weaning, with 6 g of food being provided per day, which was subsequently increased by 1 g per week until reaching 15 g per day by the eighth week. At adulthood, both rats subjected to food restriction and those fed ad libitum were exposed to paradoxical sleep deprivation for 96 h or were maintained in their home-cage groups.

RESULTS

Animals subjected to food restriction exhibited a significant increase in high-density lipoprotein levels compared to animals that were given free access to food. After the paradoxical sleep deprivation period, the food-restricted animals demonstrated reduced concentrations of high-density lipoprotein relative to their respective controls, although the values for the food-restricted animals after sleep deprivation were still higher than those for the ad libitum group. The concentration of low-density lipoproteins was significantly increased in sleep-deprived animals fed the ad libitum diet. The levels of triglycerides, very low-density lipoproteins, and glucose in food-restricted animals were each decreased compared to both ad libitum groups.

CONCLUSION

These results may help to illustrate the mechanisms underlying the relationship between sleep curtailment and metabolism and may suggest that, regardless of sleep deprivation, dietary restriction can minimize alterations in parameters related to cardiovascular risk.

Sleep pattern in an experimental model of chronic kidney disease

The prevalence of sleep disorders is significantly elevated in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. Numerous factors likely contribute to the high prevalence of sleep problems in uremic patients. The objective of this study was to evaluate the long-term sleep pattern changes in uremic rats during disease progression. Sleep recordings of the rats were monitored during light and dark periods that lasted 12 h each. These recordings were performed on days 7, 30, 60, and 90 after CKD induction. Cardiovascular, hormonal, and biochemical changes were evaluated at these same time points in control and uremic rats. CKD progression was reflected by the presence of hypertension and progressive increases in urea, creatinine, and cholesterol levels. We also observed hormonal fluctuations of corticosterone and ACTH, which indicated a potential alteration in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in diseased rats. In addition, rats with CKD demonstrated fragmented sleep with a greater number of arousals and decreased sleep efficiency in the light period during disease progression. In the dark period, there was an initial increase in sleep efficiency in CKD rats, but after 90 days of CKD, these animals slept less compared with the control group. Collectively, these metabolic and cardiovascular changes were associated with the persistent alterations in sleep architecture observed in CKD rats.

DILP-producing median neurosecretory cells in the Drosophila brain mediate the response of lifespan to nutrition

Dietary restriction extends lifespan in diverse organisms, but the gene regulatory mechanisms and tissues mediating the increased survival are still unclear. Studies in worms and flies have revealed a number of candidate mechanisms, including the target of rapamycin and insulin/IGF-like signalling (IIS) pathways and suggested a specific role for the nervous system in mediating the response. A pair of sensory neurons in Caenorhabditis elegans has been found to specifically mediate DR lifespan extension, but a neuronal focus in the Drosophila nervous system has not yet been identified. We have previously shown that reducing IIS via the partial ablation of median neurosecretory cells in the Drosophila adult brain, which produce three of the seven fly insulin-like peptides, extends lifespan. Here, we show that these cells are required to mediate the response of lifespan to full feeding in a yeast dilution DR regime and that they appear to do so by mechanisms that involve both altered IIS and other endocrine effects. We also present evidence of an interaction between these mNSCs, nutrition and sleep, further emphasising the functional homology between the DILP-producing neurosecretory cells in the Drosophila brain and the hypothalamus of mammals in their roles as integration sites of many inputs for the control of lifespan and behaviour.

Bezafibrate, a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors agonist, decreases body temperature and enhances electroencephalogram delta-oscillation during sleep in mice

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are ligand-activated transcription factors belonging to the nuclear receptor family. PPARs play a critical role in lipid and glucose metabolism. We examined whether chronic treatment with bezafibrate, a PPAR agonist, would alter sleep and body temperature (BT). Mice fed with a control diet were monitored for BT, electroencephalogram (EEG), and electromyogram for 48 h under light-dark conditions. After obtaining the baseline recording, the mice were provided with bezafibrate-supplemented food for 2 wk, after which the same recordings were performed. Two-week feeding of bezafibrate decreased BT, especially during the latter half of the dark period. BT rhythm and sleep/wake rhythm were phase advanced about 2-3 h by bezafibrate treatment. Bezafibrate treatment also increased the EEG delta-power in nonrapid eye movement sleep compared with the control diet attenuating its daily amplitude. Furthermore, bezafibrate-treated mice showed no rebound of EEG delta-power in nonrapid eye movement sleep after 6 h sleep deprivation, whereas values in control mice largely increased relative to baseline. DNA microarray, and real-time RT-PCR analysis showed that bezafibrate treatment increased levels of Neuropeptide Y mRNA in the hypothalamus at both Zeitgeber time (ZT) 10 and ZT22, and decreased proopiomelanocortin-alpha mRNA in the hypothalamus at ZT10. These findings demonstrate that PPARs participate in the control of both BT and sleep regulation, which accompanied changes in gene expression in the hypothalamus. Activation of PPARs may enhance deep sleep and improve resistance to sleep loss.

To sleep or not to sleep: the ecology of sleep in artificial organisms

Background

All animals thus far studied sleep, but little is known about the ecological factors that generate differences in sleep characteristics across species, such as total sleep duration or division of sleep into multiple bouts across the 24-hour period (i.e., monophasic or polyphasic sleep activity). Here we address these questions using an evolutionary agent-based model. The model is spatially explicit, with food and sleep sites distributed in two clusters on the landscape. Agents acquire food and sleep energy based on an internal circadian clock coded by 24 traits (one for each hour of the day) that correspond to "genes" that evolve by means of a genetic algorithm. These traits can assume three different values that specify the agents' behavior: sleep (or search for a sleep site), eat (or search for a food site), or flexibly decide action based on relative levels of sleep energy and food energy. Individuals with higher fitness scores leave more offspring in the next generation of the simulation, and the model can therefore be used to identify evolutionarily adaptive circadian clock parameters under different ecological conditions.

Results

We systematically varied input parameters related to the number of food and sleep sites, the degree to which food and sleep sites overlap, and the rate at which food patches were depleted. Our results reveal that: (1) the increased costs of traveling between more spatially separated food and sleep clusters select for monophasic sleep, (2) more rapid food patch depletion reduces sleep times, and (3) agents spend more time attempting to acquire the "rarer" resource, that is, the average time spent sleeping is positively correlated with the number of food patches and negatively correlated with the number of sleep patches. "Flexible" genes, in general, do not appear to be advantageous, though their arrangements in the agents' genome show characteristic patterns that suggest that selection acts on their distribution.

Conclusion

Collectively, the output suggests that ecological factors can have striking effects on sleep patterns. Moreover, our results demonstrate that a simple model can produce clear and sensible patterns, thus allowing it to be used to investigate a wide range of questions concerning the ecology of sleep. Quantitative data presently are unavailable to test the model predictions directly, but patterns are consistent with comparative evidence from different species, and the model can be used to target ecological factors to investigate in future research.

Dose-response study of chronic alcohol induced changes in sleep patterns in rats

The goal of the present study was to determine an optimum exposure regimen for alterations in sleep induced by chronic alcohol treatments in rats. We used two different exposure routes (alcohol in water and alcohol in liquid diet at two different doses in each regimen (6% and 12% alcohol in water and 3% and 6% alcohol in liquid diet)). All treatments were for 6 weeks. We found the effects of the 6% and 12% in water and 3% in liquid diet to be very similar; all three produced increases in slow-wave sleep (SWS) only in the dark period with no changes in rapid-eye-movement sleep (REMS). On the other hand 6% alcohol in liquid diet caused much more dramatic changes, with alterations in both SWS and REMS in both the dark and light periods. These animals spent less time in SWS and REMS during the light period but more time in SWS and REMS in the dark period. Additionally, the variation of slow-wave amplitude (SWA) across day and night in this group of alcoholic animals is blunted with the loss of the peak of SWA at the beginning of light onset compared to the other groups. We conclude that future alcohol treatment regimens used to investigate the effects of alcohol on sleep in adult rats should use an exposure protocol of at least 6 weeks with 6% alcohol in liquid diet.

Sleep deprivation and energy metabolism: to sleep, perchance to eat?

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Many people currently sleep only 5-6 h per night. Epidemiological studies have demonstrated that self-reported short sleep is associated with an increased incidence of obesity and diabetes, highlighting the importance of this trend for public health. This finding has triggered renewed research into the mechanisms that link the regulation of mammalian sleep and metabolism.

RECENT FINDINGS

In rodents, periods of starvation are accompanied by increased vigilance and sleep loss, presumably to help maximize food finding and energetic survival, whereas sleep deprivation results in increased energy expenditure and weight loss, consistent with a role of sleep in energy conservation and tissue maintenance. Information about the corresponding processes in humans is limited. Available data indicate that despite the presence of qualitative and quantitative differences, human sleep and metabolism also share reciprocal connections.

SUMMARY

Evolution in an environment with limited resources has established bidirectional links between sleep and energy homeostasis, the molecular mechanisms of which are emerging rapidly. Epidemiological data suggest that the unique ability of humans to restrict their sleep voluntarily in an environment that promotes physical inactivity and overeating may have a negative impact on metabolic health. Randomized intervention trials are needed to confirm the validity of this hypothesis.

Effects of long-term food restriction on genital reflexes in paradoxically sleep-deprived male rats

The purpose was to ascertain whether the different schedules of long-term food restriction (FR) exert influence on genital reflexes (penile erection-PE and ejaculation-EJ) induced by paradoxical sleep deprivation (PSD) in male rats. Diet restriction began at weaning with 6 g/day and food was increased by 1 g per week until reaching 15 g/day by adulthood. Rats submitted to FR and those fed ad libitum were distributed into PSD or maintained as control groups and challenged with saline or cocaine. The results indicated that PSD+saline induced PE and EJ in both ad libitum and FR groups, but cocaine only potentiated reflexes in ad libitum group. In an attempt to revert the effects of FR on genital reflexes, we provided food ad libitum to the restricted group during the PSD period (4 days). When compared to FR rats, an increase in the frequency of PE was observed in the FR group fed ad libitum during PSD (both groups were challenged with cocaine). Further, we sought to investigate motivational behavior by placing food within the behavioral cage during the evaluation of genital reflexes. The FR PSD+saline group challenged with food did not display genital reflexes but when injected with cocaine the responses were similar to those observed in FR PSD+cocaine rats not challenged with food. Our data suggest that the facilitatory effect of PSD on genital reflexes did not override the inhibitory effect of FR on erectile function, but different schedules of FR produce distinct effects on genital reflexes. Further studies are warranted to dissect the effect of food restriction on sexual behavior.