Nitric oxide mediated recovery sleep is attenuated with aging

• Published in: Neurobiology of aging Vol. 31; no. 11; pp. 2011 - 2019
• Main Authors: Rytkönen, Kirsi-Marja, Wigren, Henna-Kaisa, Kostin, Andrey, Porkka-Heiskanen, Tarja, Kalinchuk, Anna V
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Elsevier Inc 01-11-2010; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adenosine; Aging; Aging - physiology; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Development. Senescence. Regeneration. Transplantation; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Inducible nitric oxide; Internal Medicine; Male; Microdialysis; Neurology; Nitric oxide; Nitric Oxide - metabolism; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II - metabolism; Prosencephalon - metabolism; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Sleep; Sleep - physiology; Sleep deprivation; Sleep Deprivation - metabolism; Sleep homeostasis; Sleep Stages - physiology; Sleep. Vigilance; Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs; Aging; Sleep; Sleep homeostasis; Inducible nitric oxide; Nitric oxide; Sleep deprivation; Nervous system diseases; Senescence; Insomnia; Sleep disorder; Homeostasis; Neurological disorder
• ISSN: 0197-4580; 1558-1497
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2008.10.006

Abstract Nitric oxide (NO) produced by inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in the cholinergic basal forebrain (BF) during sleep deprivation (SD) is implicated in adenosine (AD) release and induction of recovery sleep. Aging is associated with impairments in sleep homeostasis, such as decrease in non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREM) intensity following SD. We hypothesized that age related changes in sleep homeostasis may be induced by impairments in NO-mediated sleep induction. To test this hypothesis we measured levels of NO and iNOS in the BF during SD as well as recovery sleep after SD and NO-donor (DETA/NO) infusion into the BF in three age groups of rats (young, 4 months; middle-aged, 14 months; old, 24 months). We found that in aged rats as compared to young (1) recovery NREM sleep intensity was significantly decreased, (2) neither iNOS nor NO increased in the BF during SD, and (3) DETA/NO infusion failed to induce sleep. Together, these results support our hypothesis that aging impairs the mechanism through which NO in the BF induces sleep.