title: Rapid eye movement sleep debt accrues in mice exposed to volatile anesthetics.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  General anesthesia has been likened to a state in which anesthetized subjects are locked out of access to both rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and wakefulness. Were this true for all anesthetics, a significant REM rebound after anesthetic exposure might be expected. However, for the intravenous anesthetic propofol, studies demonstrate that no sleep debt accrues. Moreover, preexisting sleep debts dissipate during propofol anesthesia. To determine whether these effects are specific to propofol or are typical of volatile anesthetics, the authors tested the hypothesis that REM sleep debt would accrue in rodents anesthetized with volatile anesthetics.
  
  
  METHODS
  Electroencephalographic and electromyographic electrodes were implanted in 10 mice. After 9-11 days of recovery and habituation to a 12 h:12 h light-dark cycle, baseline states of wakefulness, nonrapid eye movement sleep, and REM sleep were recorded in mice exposed to 6 h of an oxygen control and on separate days to 6 h of isoflurane, sevoflurane, or halothane in oxygen. All exposures were conducted at the onset of light.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mice in all three anesthetized groups exhibited a significant doubling of REM sleep during the first 6 h of the dark phase of the circadian schedule, whereas only mice exposed to halothane displayed a significant increase in nonrapid eye movement sleep that peaked at 152% of baseline.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  REM sleep rebound after exposure to volatile anesthetics suggests that these volatile anesthetics do not fully substitute for natural sleep. This result contrasts with the published actions of propofol for which no REM sleep rebound occurred.
authors.affiliation: University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Jeremy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pick
authors.forename: Yihan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Jason T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Abraham J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Wyner
authors.forename: Eliot B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Friedman
authors.forename: Max B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Kelz
mesh_terms: D000769:Anesthesia, Inhalation; D018685:Anesthetics, Inhalation / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018686:Anesthetics, Intravenous / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D004567:Electrodes, Implanted; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000187:drug effects; D004576:Electromyography / Q000187:drug effects; D006221:Halothane / Q000494:pharmacology; D007530:Isoflurane / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D008738:Methyl Ethers / Q000494:pharmacology; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D017286:Polysomnography / Q000187:drug effects; D015742:Propofol / Q000494:pharmacology; D000077149:Sevoflurane; D012890:Sleep / Q000187:drug effects; D012892:Sleep Deprivation / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012895:Sleep, REM / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D018685:Anesthetics, Inhalation; D018686:Anesthetics, Intravenous; D008738:Methyl Ethers; D000077149:Sevoflurane; D007530:Isoflurane; D006221:Halothane; D015742:Propofol