Development of a mouse model of chronic sleep loss to elucidate the mechanism of metabolic disorder

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26640025
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Nerve anatomy/Neuropathology
• Research Institution: University of Tsukuba
• Principal Investigator: Takata Yohko 筑波大学, 国際統合睡眠医科学研究機構, 研究員 (60435740)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): LAZARUS Michael 筑波大学, 国際統合睡眠医科学研究機構, 准教授 (80469650)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 慢性的短眠 / モデルマウス

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The aim of this study was to develop a mouse model of chronic sleep loss to elucidate the the relationship between sleep-wake regulatory system and energy metabolism. We found that lesions of specific brain areas led to sleep reduction in mice, resulting in remarkably short sleep. Their sleep time was 40 % or more shorter than the control group for at least one month. When we monitored food intake and body weight of the mouse with reduced sleep, we found that their food intake was larger than that of the control group. Moreover, the body weight of the lesioned mice increased from the third week after surgery. Our newly developed mouse model of chronic sleep loss may be useful to study the effect of reduced sleep on energy metabolism.

Free Research Field

神経科学