Thermoneutral temperature exposure enhances slow-wave sleep with a correlated improvement in amyloid pathology in a triple-transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease

Jun Wang, Dillon Huffman, Asma'a Ajwad, Christopher J. McLouth, Adam Bachstetter, Katarina Kohler, M. Paul Murphy, Bruce F. O'Hara, Marilyn J. Duncan, Sridhar Sunderam

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Accumulation of amyloid-β (Aβ) plays an important role in Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology. There is growing evidence that disordered sleep may accelerate AD pathology by impeding the physiological clearance of Aβ from the brain that occurs in normal sleep. Therapeutic strategies for improving sleep quality may therefore help slow disease progression. It is well documented that the composition and dynamics of sleep are sensitive to ambient temperature. We therefore compared Aβ pathology and sleep metrics derived from polysomnography in 12-month-old female 3xTg-AD mice (n = 8) exposed to thermoneutral temperatures during the light period over 4 weeks to those of age- and sex-matched controls (n = 8) that remained at normal housing temperature (22°C) during the same period. The treated group experienced greater proportions of slow wave sleep (SWS) - i.e. epochs of elevated 0.5-2 Hz EEG slow wave activity during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep - compared to controls. Assays performed on mouse brain tissue harvested at the end of the experiment showed that exposure to thermoneutral temperatures significantly reduced levels of DEA-soluble (but not RIPA- or formic acid-soluble) Aβ40 and Aβ42 in the hippocampus, though not in the cortex. With both groups pooled together and without regard to treatment condition, NREM sleep continuity and any measure of SWS within NREM at the end of the treatment period were inversely correlated with DEA-soluble Aβ40 and Aβ42 levels, again in the hippocampus but not in the cortex. These findings suggest that experimental manipulation of SWS could offer useful clues into the mechanisms and treatment of AD.

Original languageEnglish
Article numberzsae078
JournalSleep
Volume47
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 1 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Sleep Research Society. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact [email protected] for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site - for further information please contact [email protected].

Keywords

  • Alzheimer's disease
  • Amyloid beta
  • EEG
  • NREM
  • cortex
  • hippocampus
  • mouse
  • slow wave sleep
  • thermoneutral temperature
  • transgenic

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Medicine

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