Deep brain stimulation of hypothalamus for narcolepsy-cataplexy in mice

  • Anna A. Rogers
  • , Lauren M. Aiani
  • , Lou T. Blanpain
  • , Sun Yuxian
  • , Renee Moore
  • , Jon T. Willie

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: Narcolepsy type 1 (NT1, narcolepsy with cataplexy) is a disabling neurological disorder caused by loss of excitatory orexin neurons from the hypothalamus and is characterized by decreased motivation, sleep-wake fragmentation, intrusion of rapid-eye-movement sleep (REMS) during wake, and abrupt loss of muscle tone, called cataplexy, in response to sudden emotions. Objective: We investigated whether subcortical stimulation, analogous to clinical deep brain stimulation (DBS), would ameliorate NT1 using a validated transgenic mouse model with postnatal orexin neuron degeneration. Methods: Using implanted electrodes in freely behaving mice, the immediate and prolonged effects of DBS were determined upon behavior using continuous video-electroencephalogram-electromyogram (video/EEG/EMG) and locomotor activity, and neural activation in brain sections, using immunohistochemical labeling of the immediate early gene product c-Fos. Results: Brief 10-s stimulation to the region of the lateral hypothalamus and zona incerta (LH/ZI) dose-responsively reversed established sleep and cataplexy episodes without negative sequelae. Continuous 3-h stimulation increased ambulation, improved sleep-wake consolidation, and ameliorated cataplexy. Brain c-Fos from mice sacrificed after 90 min of DBS revealed dose-responsive neural activation within wake-active nuclei of the basal forebrain, hypothalamus, thalamus, and ventral midbrain. Conclusion: Acute and continuous LH/ZI DBS enhanced behavioral state control in a mouse model of NT1, supporting the feasibility of clinical DBS for NT1 and other sleep-wake disorders.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1305-1316
Number of pages12
JournalBrain Stimulation
Volume13
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 1 2020

Keywords

  • Arousal
  • Cataplexy
  • Deep brain stimulation
  • Hypocretin
  • Lateral hypothalamus
  • Narcolepsy
  • Orexin
  • Sleep disorder
  • Subcortical stimulation
  • Zona incerta

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