Adenosine and sleep

Behavioral and biochemical approaches have been used to determine the relative contribution of endogenous adenosine and adenosine receptors to the sleep-wake cycle in the rat. Adenosine concentrations in specific areas of the rat brain were not affected by 24 hours of total sleep deprivation, or by 24 or 48 hours of REM sleep deprivation. In order to assess the effect of REM sleep deprivation on adenosine A1 receptors, 3H-L-PIA binding was measured. The Bmax values for 3H-L-PIA binding to membrane preparations of the cortices and corpus striata from 48 hour REM sleep-deprived animals were increased 14.8% and 23%, respectively. These increases were not maintained following the cessation of sleep deprivation and recovered within 2 hours. The results of a 96 hour REM deprivation experiment were similar to those of the 48 hour REM sleep deprivation experiment. However, these increases were not evident in similar structures taken from stress control animals, and conclusively demonstrated that the changes in 3H-L-PIA binding resulted from REM sleep deprivation and not from stress