Development of biochemical markers for quality and/or quantity of child sleep

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K12721
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Childhood science (childhood environment science)
• Research Institution: Osaka University
• Principal Investigator: TANIIKE MASAKO 大阪大学, 連合小児発達学研究科, 教授 (30263289)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 毛利 育子 大阪大学, 連合小児発達学研究科, 准教授 (70399351)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 睡眠 / 脳発達 / プロスタグランジンD2 / 小児

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Sleep is a physiological state caused by multiple mechanisms, one of which is a prostaglandin D2 (PGD2), an endogenous sleep-promoting substance. We investigated whether the content of tetranor-PGDM, a metabolite of PGD2, is a marker of the quantity of child sleep using the morning urines from 686 kindergarten children.
The t-PGDM urinary content showed no sex difference. Two groups were recognized; the one showed the urinary t-PGDM content having a reverse correlation with sleep time and the other without such correlation. Its content and bedtime showed a negative correlation.
These lines of evidence suggested that the urinary t-PGDM content may be a biomarker for sleep quantity.

Free Research Field

小児、発達、神経科学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

睡眠は脳発達に重要な生理状態であるが、日本の小児は先進各国に比し睡眠時間が短いことが知られている。プロスタグランジンD2は強力な睡眠誘発物質であり、断眠など睡眠不足時に髄膜で産生され、代謝されて尿中にtetranor-PGDMとして排泄される。我々は、このtetranor-PGDMが睡眠不足の指標にならないかを検討した。睡眠不足が定量できれば、睡眠衛生指導が容易になる。