Abstract
BackgroundParasitic diseases like malaria are a major public health problem in many countries and disrupted sleep patterns are an increasingly common part of modern life. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of paradoxical sleep deprivation (PSD) and sleep rebound (RB) on malarial parasite infection in mice.MethodsAfter PSD, one group was immediately infected with parasites (PSD). The two other PSD rebound groups were allowed to sleep normally for either 24 h (24 h RB) or 48 h (48 h RB). After the recovery periods, mice were inoculated with parasites.ResultsThe PSD group was the most affected by parasites presenting the higher death rate (0.02), higher number of infected cells (p < 0.01), and decrease in body weight (p < 0.04) compared to control and 48 h RB groups. The 24 h RB group was also different from control group in survival (p < 0.03), number of infected cells (p < 0.05) and body weight (p < 0.04). After 48 hours of sleep rebound animals were allowed to restore their response to parasitic infection similar to normal sleep animals.ConclusionsThese results suggest that PSD is damaging to the immune system and leads to an increased infection severity of malaria parasites; only 48 hours of recovery sleep was sufficient to return the mice infection response to baseline values.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12936-015-0690-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Parasitic diseases like malaria are a major public health problem in many countries and disrupted sleep patterns are an increasingly common part of modern life
Survival curves of mice infected with Plasmodium chabaudi The survival of mice was monitored for 20 days
When comparing the 24 h RB group to the CT group, we noticed a significant reduction in survival, though 40% of the animals remained alive (Figure 1B)
Summary
Parasitic diseases like malaria are a major public health problem in many countries and disrupted sleep patterns are an increasingly common part of modern life. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of paradoxical sleep deprivation (PSD) and sleep rebound (RB) on malarial parasite infection in mice. The findings presented in this review have been reinforced by extensive scientific literature showing that the sleep is essential for the integrity and physiological maintenance of living beings, and sleep deprivation has been shown to have harmful effects in both humans and experimental models. Several studies have shown a close correlation between sleep and the immune system [2,3]. Other studies have shown an increase in circulating phagocytes accompanied by an increase in pro-inflammatory molecules, such as IL-1 and MHCII [10] as a result of sleep deprivation. There is a complex relationship between sleep, the central nervous system and immune system function, which involves neuropeptides, cytokines and microbial products [4] as well as Toll-like receptors (TLRs), endogenous ligands [11] and markers of activated macrophages, such as chitotriosidase [12]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
