Sleep Deprivation and Gut ROS levels

[Wishful]

https://www.quantamagazine.org/why-sleep-deprivation-kills-20200604/

A study found that sleep deprivation kills animals by elevating levels of reactive oxygen species in the gut. People here who favour theories involving gut issues--antioxidants, and sleep--might find it interesting.

Taking antioxidants kept the sleep deprived animals from dying early. Maybe taking antioxidants would be good after a sleepless night.

 

[sb4]

It would be interesting if there is a study of sleep deprivation in animals whos guts have been completely sterilized. I think they would still die but of something else but it would be interesting to see how much longer they last.

 

[Wishful]

The article doesn't mention microbes as a source for the ROS. I suppose the body's responses to microbes could be driving the production of ROS. A good question might be: "does the absence of microbes reduce the immune system's activity (and production of ROS)?" Without 'normal' stimulation, the gut might 'go crazy' so to speak. Some complex systems with interacting feedback loops do have that problem.

Your experiment might be fairly simple to do, since there are some insects (and even mammals?) that lack gut microbiomes. There was something I read recently about that, but I've forgotten the details. However, maybe microbe-free lab species are readily available too.

 

[ZeroGravitas]

Oh, I just logged on to post a link to this study (late, as always). Original publication, with good explainer video: https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(20)30555-9

I also came across this research via Quanta Magazine, but on their YouTube channel, where they listed it as one of the 3 biggest discoveries in biology this year!:

I think it's really validating and encouraging to see trumpeted medical research making bounds towards catching up with the realities we've known and dealt with, here, for many years. Both the central importance of sleep on all the body's systems and the potential efficacy of anti-oxidants in improving energy production, gut health, controlling inflammation, etc.

The article doesn't mention microbes as a source for the ROS.

Yeah. from the Quanta Magazine article (my bold):

Everson also found that the guts of sleep-deprived rats grew leaky, releasing bacteria into the animals’ bloodstreams. But from what Rogulja and her colleagues have seen, the flies’ guts do not seem to leak. ROS also did not seem to be rising in any of the other tissues they examined. And although the flies sometimes ate more when they were sleep-deprived, the ROS level in their guts looked the same regardless.

So, I'm wondering if the lack of sleep signals to the cells (e.g. diurnal body temperature fluctuation) is causing cells to enter into Naviaux's Cell Danger Response. Or rather, an increaing number of cells failing to complete their normal healing cycle. Hence they begin producing oxidative shielding/stress.

It could be that the gut sees such a strong effect because it's particularly sensitive to this. With a large immune presence, and main purpose of defending against invaters/toxins. (Human) gut epithelia cells have a very rapid turn-over, too. Of order a couple weeks. Similar to the 10 days in the sleep deprivation study.

And...:

Animals [chronically] sleep-deprived under these carefully controlled conditions would increase their food intake two and three times normal amounts, and lose weight

... Is maybe suggestive of very poor absorption of nutrients (e.g. by a damaged/dysfunctional gut) and/or cellular metabolism shifted to less efficient glycolosis (as we see in ME/CFS)?

 

[sb4]

Is maybe suggestive of very poor absorption of nutrients (e.g. by a damaged/dysfunctional gut) and/or cellular metabolism shifted to less efficient glycolosis (as we see in ME/CFS)?

Perhaps, although Hyperlipid has a whole theory on high ROS causing weight loss through insulin resistance. If the fat cells are experiencing high levels of ROS, they may ignore insulins signals to absorb calories and instead leak fat out into the blood.

Maybe sleep deprivation causes high ROS in the neurons in the brain that govern energy levels. The high ROS is interpreted as lots of reverse electron flow in the mitochondria meaning there is sufficient food and this causes weight loss.

 

[ZeroGravitas]

ROS causing weight loss through insulin resistance

Interesting. Adrenal glad secretions are catabolic too, right?

The deprived rats were thin and had enlarged adrenal glands[...]

Maybe sleep deprivation causes high ROS in the neurons in the brain that govern energy levels.

I think they didn't find raised ROS in neurons (and they were mostly aiming to study the CNS, originally by the sounds of it).

[...] there is no evidence yet that sleep’s cognitive effects, for instance, come from the same source [...]