Intermittent hypoxia causes REM sleep deficits and decreases EEG delta power in NREM sleep in the C57BL/6J mouse

Vsevolod Y. Polotsky, Arnon E. Rubin, Alex Balbir, Terry Dean, Philip L. Smith, Alan R. Schwartz, Christopher P. O'Donnell

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

98 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background and purpose: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) severely impairs sleep architecture. We hypothesized that both intermittent hypoxia (IH) and non-hypoxic arousals of OSA result in significant disruption of non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREMS) and rapid eye movement sleep (REMS). Patients and methods: Polysomnography was performed in C57BL/6J mice (n=5) exposed to IH (cycling of FIO2 from 20.9 to 5.0%) or sleep fragmentation (SF: high flow air blasts) throughout the 12-h light phase over 5 consecutive days. Results: Both IH and SF induced arousals from sleep. On Day 1 of exposure, total NREMS during the light phase decreased comparably during IH (44.1±7.8%/12 h, P<0.05) and SF (43.7±3.3%/12 h, P<0.05) but returned to baseline levels of 62.0±7.8%/12 h by Day 5 of exposure under both conditions. During IH, however, the electroencephalographic (EEG) delta power of NREMS remained impaired throughout the 5-day period of IH with a nadir of 65.4±5.6% relative to baseline (P=0.01), and REMS was effectively abolished during the light phase. In contrast, SF did not cause a significant reduction in either EEG delta power or REMS during the light phase. Conclusions: Thus, hypoxic exposure, but not arousals, caused overall deficits in the EEG delta power of NREMS and marked deficits in the total amount of REMS. We propose that hypoxic arousals may have a more severe impact on sleep architecture in patients with OSA than non-hypoxic arousals.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)7-16
Number of pages10
JournalSleep Medicine
Volume7
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2006
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Intermittent hypoxia
  • NREM sleep
  • Polysomnography
  • REM sleep
  • Sleep fragmentation
  • Sleep-disordered breathing

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Medicine

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