Effects of prolonged paradoxical sleep deprivation with or without acute cold stress on hemodynamic perturbations in rats

Prolonged paradoxical sleep deprivation (PSD) and cold stress (CS) are known to cause sympathoexcitation and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. The present study examined the effect of PSD with CS on hemodynamic perturbations by investigating blood pressure and heart rate variability (BPV and HRV) in conscious rats. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into three groups (n = 10, each): normal sleep (NS), PSD of 72 h, and recovery sleep of 7 days after PSD. When compared with NS, PSD increased systolic blood pressure in all three conditions: before CS (PreCS), CS, and after CS (PostCS). The PSD also increased heart rate in both PreCS and PostCS. Furthermore, spectral power changes were observed throughout the experiment. The PSD increased very-low-frequency BPV in PreCS, decreased very-low-frequency HRV in CS, and increased low-frequency BPV in all three conditions. The PSD increased low-frequency HRV in PreCS, increased high-frequency BPV in both CS and PostCS, and also increased high-frequency HRV in both PreCS and CS but decreased that in PostCS. On the other hand, when compared with PSD, recovery sleep has reversed most cardiovascular changes in PSD toward the NS level. However, when compared with NS, spectral powers of very-low-frequency BPV in the recovery phase showed a lower level. These results showed that in the resting condition, PSD might evoke sympathoexcitation with a tendency to increase both very-low-frequency BPV and very-low-frequency HRV, as the intensified myogenic oscillations. However, in the CS condition, PSD evoked the sympathoexcitation yet might attenuate such myogenic oscillations.