Mediation Of Sleep Research Articles

Change in Sleep Latency as a Mediator of the Effect of Physical Activity Intervention on Executive Functions Among Children with ADHD: A Secondary Analysis from a Randomized Controlled Trial.

This study aimed to explore the potential mediating role of sleep quality in the effect of physical activity (PA) intervention for improving executive functions (EFs) in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Participants aged 6 to 12years old with a formal ADHD diagnosis were recruited from a local hospital. A total of 80 eligible children with ADHD were randomized to an intervention group for 12 consecutive weeks of PA training (three times per week, 60min per session) (n = 40; Mage = 8.37, 75% boys) or a wait-list control group (n = 40; Mage = 8.29, 80% boys). Three core EFs (inhibitory control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility) were assessed by neurocognitive tasks, and sleep quality was measured by the Chinese version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. The bootstrapping method was used to test PA intervention effects on EFs and on potential variables of sleep quality after intervention and to test whether there were indirect effects of the intervention on EFs via mediators of sleep. The results showed that the PA intervention had a direct effect on sleep latency reduction (β = -0.26, 95%CI -0.47 to -0.06) and cognitive flexibility improvement (decrease in completion time) (β = -0.30, 95%CI -0.50 to -0.09). Furthermore, change in sleep latency significantly mediated the effects of PA intervention on cognitive flexibility (β = -0.084, 95%CI -0.252 to -0.001). The findings suggest that sleep latency could be a crucial behavioral mediator of PA intervention in improving cognitive flexibility among children with ADHD.

Distress and Sensitization as Main Mediators of Severity in Women with Fibromyalgia: A Structural Equation Model.

We aimed to explore a path model identified using a structural equation model (SEM) which best explains the multivariate contributions of sensitization, sensitivity, and emotional variables to clinical severity in women with FMS. Pain features, the Central Sensitization Inventory (CSI), painDETECT, S-LANSS, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS), the Pain Vigilance and Awareness Questionnaire (PVAQ), the 11-item Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia (TSK-11), and pressure pain thresholds (PPTs) were collected from 113 women with FMS. Four latent variables were created: severity (clinical pain features), sensitivity (PPTs), sensitization (S-LANSS, CSI, painDETECT), and distress (HADS-A, HADS-D, PCS, PVAQ, TSK-11). Data fit for the measurement model were considered excellent (RMSEA = 0.043, CFI = 0.966, SRMR = 0.067, and NNFI = 0.960). Distress had a significant relationship with the mediators of sleep (β = 0.452, p = 0.031) and sensitization (β = 0.618, p = 0.001). The only mediator with a significant effect (β = 1.113, p < 0.001) on severity was sensitization. A significant indirect effect of sensitization (β = 0.687, p = 0.001) that explained the relationship between distress and severity was also identified. The proposed model suggests that distress and sensitization, together with poor sleep, have a complex mediating effect on severity in women with FMS. The identified path model can be leveraged in clinical trials investigating treatment approaches for FMS.

Was Cajal right about sleep?

Cajal’s careful observations of the anatomy of the nervous system led him to some lesser-known predictions about the function of glia as mediators of sleep. Reporting over 120 years later in BMC Biology, Bellesi et al. examine changes in gene expression and morphology of astrocytes with sleep. Their results provide support for and revisions to Cajal’s predictions.See research article: doi: 10.1186/s12915-015-0176-7.

Exercise, sleep quality, and mediators of sleep in breast and prostate cancer patients receiving radiation therapy

Cancer patients often report impaired sleep quality. Impaired sleep quality may be due to increased levels of sleep-mediating cytokines resulting from cancer treatment. Exercise may have a positive influence on sleep-mediating cytokines, such as interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and soluble tumor necrosis factor-alpha receptor (sTNF-R), which may improve sleep quality. This two-arm pilot study compared the influence of a home-based exercise intervention with standard care/control on sleep quality and mediators of sleep. Breast and prostate cancer patients (n = 38) beginning radiation therapy were randomized to a 4-week exercise program or no exercise arm. Global sleep quality, subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances, use of sleep medication, and daytime dysfunction were assessed with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. IL-6, TNF-α, and sTNF-R were measured before and after intervention. There was a greater improvement in sleep quality in the exercise group from pre- to postintervention, although the difference was not significant. Additionally, there were associations between IL-6 and sleep efficiency and duration, suggesting that regulation of sleep-mediating cytokines by exercise may mediate improvements in sleep-quality components.

Flurbiprofen does not change the bispectral index and 95% spectral edge frequency during total intravenous anaesthesia with propofol and fentanyl.

Previous studies have shown that general anaesthetic agents modulate the production of hypothalamic prostaglandins (PG) D2 and E2, which are mediators of sleep and wakefulness respectively. Although flurbiprofen, a cyclo-oxygenase inhibitor, is used clinically as a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agent and postoperative analgesic, it reduces prostaglandin production. Thus, this agent may affect the depth of sedation during general anaesthesia. In this study, we examined if flurbiprofen affects the bispectral index, which correlates with sedation levels. Fifteen patients who underwent elective surgery under total intravenous anaesthesia with propofol and fentanyl were studied. The sedation level was monitored using a bispectral index monitor. On attainment of stable haemodynamics and a bispectral index, patients were given flurbiprofen axetil 50 mg intravenously. A bispectral index and 95% spectral edge frequency were recorded before and 5, 10, 15, 20 and 30 min after flurbiprofen axetil intravenously. Bispectral indexes of 51.7 (95% CI: 47.3-56.8), 51.7 (47.1-56.3), 51.3 (46.3-56.3), 50.3 (45.8-54.2), 48.9 (43.6-54.1) and 50.3 (45.5-55.2) at 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 min after flurbiprofen axetil intravenously were observed. There was no change in this or 95% spectral edge frequency. Clinical dose of flurbiprofen axetil does not alter the bispectral index and 95% spectral edge frequency under total intravenous anaesthesia with propofol and fentanyl.

Flurbiprofen does not change the bispectral index and 95% spectral edge frequency during total intravenous anaesthesia with propofol and fentanyl

Background and objective: Previous studies have shown that general anaesthetic agents modulate the production of hypothalamic prostaglandins (PG) D2 and E2, which are mediators of sleep and wakefulness respectively. Although flurbiprofen, a cyclo-oxygenase inhibitor, is used clinically as a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agent and postoperative analgesic, it reduces prostaglandin production. Thus, this agent may affect the depth of sedation during general anaesthesia. In this study, we examined if flurbiprofen affects the bispectral index, which correlates with sedation levels. Methods: Fifteen patients who underwent elective surgery under total intravenous anaesthesia with propofol and fentanyl were studied. The sedation level was monitored using a bispectral index monitor. On attainment of stable haemodynamics and a bispectral index, patients were given flurbiprofen axetil 50 mg intravenously. A bispectral index and 95% spectral edge frequency were recorded before and 5, 10, 15, 20 and 30 min after flurbiprofen axetil intravenously. Results: Bispectral indexes of 51.7 (95% CI: 47.3-56.8), 51.7 (47.1-56.3), 51.3 (46.3-56.3), 50.3 (45.8-54.2), 48.9 (43.6-54.1) and 50.3 (45.5-55.2) at 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 min after flurbiprofen axetil intravenously were observed. There was no change in this or 95% spectral edge frequency. Conclusions: Clinical dose of flurbiprofen axetil does not alter the bispectral index and 95% spectral edge frequency under total intravenous anaesthesia with propofol and fentanyl.

Humoral Regulation of Sleep and Wakefulness by Hypnogenic and Activating Dialysable Factors

This chapter discusses a study of humoral regulation of sleep and wakefulness by hypnogenic and activating dialysable factors. Dialysis of cerebral venous blood was performed on rabbits during sleep induced by electrical stimulation of the medio-central intralaminary thalamus, or during sustained wakefulness elicited by stimulation of the activating reticular system in the midbrain. From the whole dialysate (30 ml) obtained during 80 min from the stimulated donor animal, 20 ml were injected intravenously to normal free-moving animals (recipient). The latters' behavior was filmed and analyzed with a kinesimeter, and the electrical brain activity was continuously recorded. The results showed that injection of dialysate from a sleeping donor elicits in the recipient a moderate sleep, which does not differ in behavior and electroencephalogram (EEG)from normal sleep. The action of dialysate from sleeping donors is significantly different from that of control donors after sham-stimulation of the thalamus. Injection of dialysate from alert donors elicits a behavioral and electrographic arousal with numerous symptoms of rhinodiencephalic type. These sleep and arousal effects induced in the recipients by injection of dialysate from sleeping or alert donors suggest that dialysable humoral factors play a role in the mediation of sleep and wakefulness.

DIALYSIS OF SLEEP AND WAKING FACTORS IN BLOOD OF THE RABBIT.

Dialysis of cerebral venous blood was performed on rabbits during sleep induced by electrical stimulation of the hypnogenic thalamic system or during sustained wakefulness elicited by stimulation of the activating reticular system. The injection of dialysate from a sleeping donor elicited in a normal recipient a moderate sleep which did not differ from normal sleep according to the behavior of the animal and the pattern of the electroencephalogram. The action of the dialysate obtained from sleeping donors was significantly different from that obtained from control donors after sham-stimulation of the thalamus. Injection of dialysate from alert donors elicited a behavioral and electrographic arousal with rhinodiencephalic activation symptoms. These results suggest that dialyzable humoral factors play a role in the mediation of sleep and wakeleness.