China Session (4): Intestinal-mediated inflammatory response caused by sleep deprivation from the team of Academician Han Ying/Lu Lin of Peking University

Click on the blue word to pay attention to our sleep can promote cognitive function and restore physical strength, but sleep deprivation causes neuroinflammation, neurodegenerative diseases and other undesirable results
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After sleep deprivation, astrocytes and microglia are activated to promote the release of inflammatory factors and cause inflammation.
It may also cause neuroinflammation by causing intestinal flora imbalance
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The gut-brain axis realizes two-way "dialogue communication" between the central nervous system and the peripheral intestinal system, and connects the peripheral intestine with the emotional and cognitive functions controlled by the brain
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On May 7, 2021, the research team of Academician Han Ying and Lu Lin of the China Institute of Drug Dependence of Peking University published an article revealing that the intestinal flora mediates the inflammatory response and cognitive dysfunction caused by sleep deprivation
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The research team recruited 25 healthy adults with regular schedules of sleep and sleep deprivation for 12 hours and 24 hours after they were subjected to the Psychomotor Vigilance Test to test their reaction time
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It was found that adults who were deprived of sleep (24 hours and 40 hours) had impairments in cognitive function and slowed their responses
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In addition, the levels of pro-inflammatory factors such as TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 in the peripheral serum of these adults are elevated
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Further through microbiological sequencing of adult stool samples after sleep deprivation, it was found that the diversity of intestinal flora was reduced after sleep deprivation, and the permeability of the blood-brain barrier increased
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Most of the reduced flora is related to the production of short-chain fatty acids
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Intestinal flora is an important activator of inflammation
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Researchers found that after sleep deprivation, the serum levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6 and other pro-inflammatory factors in normal mice increased, while the level of anti-inflammatory factor IL-10 decreased, and the intestinal barrier was also damaged.
In sterile mice, there is no such drastic inflammatory factor change, and the intestinal barrier is intact
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At the level of cognitive behavior, sleep deprivation can cause cognitive learning disabilities in normal mice, but sterile mice can be protected from this damage
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After they transplanted adult intestinal flora after sleep deprivation into mice, the serum levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6 and other pro-inflammatory factors in these mice increased, and the integrity of intestinal epithelial cells was also Destruction appears, showing cognitive dysfunction
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The concentration of short-chain fatty acids such as acetic acid, propionic acid, and butyric acid in the stool samples of adults after sleep deprivation was significantly reduced, and the concentration of short-chain fatty acids also decreased after the mice received the above-mentioned flora transplantation
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What is even more frightening is that the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex brain areas of the mice also showed obvious inflammation after the transplantation of the flora, and the blood-brain barrier was also destroyed
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The intestinal flora can transmit almost all the "bad effects" of sleep deprivation to normal mice-which further confirms that the intestinal flora plays an important role in the inflammatory response induced by sleep deprivation
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In general, this article recruited adult volunteers and found that short-term sleep deprivation can cause inflammatory response activation and cognitive impairment
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Then they revealed through microbiome technology that the intestinal flora is the "initiator" that causes inflammation
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[References] 1.
https://doi.
org/10.
1038/s41380-021-01113-1, the pictures in the text are all from the references