Journal of Applied Physiology, Vol 72, Issue 3 970-976, Copyright © 1992 by American Physiological Society
Cardiopulmonary regulation after rapid-eye-movement sleep deprivation
S. DeMesquita and G. A. Hale
Department of Physiology, Marshall University School of Medicine, Huntington, West Virginia 25755-9340.
Arterial blood pressure, chest movement, electroencephalogram, and
electromyogram were monitored in six normotensive Sprague-Dawley rats for 4
h/day 3 days before and 4 days after 114 h of rapid-eye-movement (REM)
sleep deprivation. During recovery sleep immediately after REM sleep
deprivation (RD), there was a significant increase in the amount of time
spent in REM sleep. During this rebound in REM sleep, there was a
significant rise (26%) in heart rate in wakefulness, non-REM sleep, and REM
sleep during the first 4 h after RD. Systolic blood pressure was also
significantly elevated (14%) but only during wakefulness before recovery
sleep. Rats with the greatest waking systolic blood pressure after RD had
the lowest REM sleep rebound in the 4 h immediately after RD (r = -0.885, P
less than 0.05). The rise in heart rate, systolic blood pressure, and REM
sleep time evident on day 1 immediately after RD was absent on recovery
days 2-4. The respiratory rate tended to be higher throughout the recovery
period in every state of consciousness; however, these values never reached
the level of significance. In the initial recovery sleep period, regulation
of heart rate was more disrupted by REM sleep deprivation than either
arterial blood pressure or respiratory rate.
