Consequences of post-weaning sleep deprivation on behavior and oxidative stress parameters in rat plasma and brain.

Sleep is essential for health: Adequate sleep is essential for healthy development and sleep deprivation results in several consequences. Indeed, sleep deprivation early in life is associated with poor behavior and cognition, as well as impaired mental and physical health. Preclinical studies have shown that sleep deprivation alters several physiological functions later in life such as the cardiovascular, immune, and endocrine systems, resulting in altered oxidative states. Most of the preclinical literature is focused on adult animals and little is known about oxidative alterations during development, especially in the context of sleep deprivation. Hence, we adapted a classic and well-documented model of sleep deprivation, paradoxical sleep deprivation using multiple platforms, for juvenile rats and explored central and peripheral oxidative parameters, as well as the behavioral consequences of sleep deprivation post-weaning. We showed that 96 h of paradoxical sleep deprivation induced a significant reduction in body weight, decreased sucrose preference-a behavior suggestive of anhedonia-and increased glucose and decreased cholesterol in the plasma. In the brain, we observed a decrease in reduced glutathione levels in the medial prefrontal cortex and an increase in thiobarbituric acid reactive substance levels in the hypothalamus, indicating oxidative damage in these regions. Taken together, our findings suggest that paradoxical sleep deprivation during development induces anhedonic behavior and promotes central and peripheral alterations in oxidative parameters.