Effect of Acute Sleep Deprivation on Melatonin Level of Plasma and Clock Gene Expression of Hypothalamus in Mice

This study was conducted to investigate the changes in plasma Melatonin (MT) level and hypothalamic clock gene expression in mice after sleep deprivation (SD). Seventy-two mice were randomly divided into SD group and non-sleep-deprived control group (n=36). The SD mice were subjected to a modified multiple platform water path for 72 h sleep deprivation. After that, blood samples were taken every four hours (CT4,8,12,16,20 and 24) for the detection of plasma MT content, and hypothalamus samples were collected for the detection of the expressions of clock genes including mClock, mBmal1, mCry1/2, mPer1-3, mRorβ and mReverbα. The results showed that compared with control group, circadian rhythm of plasma MT was disordered in SD group. The median values of mClock, mRorβ and mReverbα in the hypothalamus decreased significantly (P<0.05), but mPer1 and mPer2 increased significantly (P<0.01); the circadian rhythms of mCry1 and mCry2 disappeared; the expression rhythms of mBmal1, and mClock were advanced in phase, while mRorβ and mPer1-3’s were delayed. These results suggested that acute sleep deprivation of 3 d could cause disorders of MT secretion and hypothalamic clock gene expression in mice.