Abstract
There is substantial evidence implicating the brain cytokine network in sleep regulation; this network seems to be intimately involved in the regulation of daily physiological sleep as well as sleep responses to perturbations such as sleep loss and infectious challenge. Two cytokines are extensively studied for their involvement in sleep regulation; they are tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) and interleukin-1β (IL1β) and we will focus on their involvement in non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREMS) regulation. In addition, many other cytokines are expressed in brain and affect NREMS and these will be summarized. We will mention some likely downstream biochemical mechanisms by which pro-somnogenic cytokines affect sleep; these include nitric oxide (NO), adenosine and growth hormone releasing hormone (GHRH). We will also provide an overview of the brain circuitry known to be involved in NREMS regulation and summarize the relatively limited data germane to cytokine influences on these circuits. Finally, we will provide a short summary of the implications of these findings for sleep function, which remains one of the most important enigmas in all of neurobiology.
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