title: Sleep deprivation decreases glycogen in the cerebellum but not in the cortex of young rats.
abstract: We tested whether brain glycogen reserves were depleted by sleep deprivation (SD) in Long-Evans rats 20-59 days old. Animals were sleep deprived beginning at lights on and then immediately killed by microwave irradiation. Glycogen and glucose levels were measured by a fluorescence enzymatic assay. In all age groups, SD reduced cerebellar glycogen levels by an average of 26% after 6 h of SD. No changes were observed in the cortex after 6 h of SD, but in the oldest animals, 12 h of SD increased cortical glycogen levels. There was a developmental increase in basal glycogen levels in both the cortex and cerebellum that peaked at 34 days and declined thereafter. Robust differences in cortical and cerebellar glycogen levels in response to enforced waking may reflect regional differences in energy utilization and regulation during wakefulness. These results show that brain glycogen reserves are sensitive to SD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, 371 Serra Mall, Stanford, CA 94305-5020, USA. pgip@stanford.edu
authors.forename: Phung
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gip
authors.forename: Grace
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hagiwara
authors.forename: Norman F
authors.initials: NF
authors.lastname: Ruby
authors.forename: H Craig
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Heller
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D000758:Anesthesia; D018685:Anesthetics, Inhalation; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn / Q000502:physiology*; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000378:metabolism*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D006003:Glycogen / Q000378:metabolism*; D006221:Halothane; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D020318:Rats, Long-Evans; D012892:Sleep Deprivation / Q000503:physiopathology*
chemical_list: D018685:Anesthetics, Inhalation; D006003:Glycogen; D005947:Glucose; D006221:Halothane