Dr. Alexandra Vaccaro - Dr. Yosef Kaplan Dor - Prof. Dragana Rogulja

The first signs of insufficient sleep are universally familiar. There's tiredness and fatigue, difficulty concentrating, perhaps irritability or even tired giggles. Far fewer people have experienced the effects of prolonged sleep deprivation, including disorientation, paranoia and hallucinations. Total, prolonged sleep deprivation, however, can be fatal. While it has been reported in humans only anecdotally, a widely cited study in rats conducted by Chicago-based researchers in 1983 showed that a total lack of sleep inevitably leads to death. Yet, despite decades of study, a central question has remained unsolved: why do we die when we don't sleep?

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SHR # 2540 :: The Link Between the Gut and Death by Sleep Deprivation

Show Transcript SHR # 2540 :: The Link Between the Gut and Death by Sleep Deprivation

-----------------Study Discussed On This Show---------------------
Sleep Loss Can Cause Death through Accumulation of Reactive Oxygen Species in the Gut -
https://www.cell.com/cell/pdf/S0092-8674(20)30555-9.pdf

Show Notes:

[3:44] What was the inspiration behind this study?

• There was no full explanation as to why sleep deprivation will eventually lead to death.
• Wanted to know the mechanism behind degradation of health and eventual death.

[7:50] ROS and oxidation as a causal effect of sleep deprivation.

• Only the gut had an increase in ROS.

[9:47] Study desing.

• Fruit flies.
• Body temperature was altered to cause sleep deprivation by activating heat-sensitive genes in neurons (thermogenetics).
• After 10 days, mortality rate started to climb.

[19:56] How does circadian rhythm fit into this?

• If the flies were allowed to sleep during the day, would the condition reverse?
• It is unknown, but this could contribute to the correlation between shift workers and colon cancer rates.

[23:30] Where were the ROS coming from?

• They are not sure, but they enterocytes seems to be the main suspect.

[32:40] 53 antioxidants were tested for life extension in sleep deprived.

• 11 extended survival.
• Melatonin, NAD mitigated ROS in the gut.
• Glutathione did not seem to be effective.
• Vitamin c was slightly effective.

[52:40] Timing of antioxidant feeding.

• Pre treatment seemed to make matters worse.