Dados do Trabalho

Título

Analysis of the inflammatory profile of males and females in an animal model of iron deficiency for Restless Legs Syndrome.

Introdução

Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) is a sleep-related sensorimotor disorder that is caused by low iron availability in the brain. RLS is closely related to inflammation due to sleep impairment (sleep deprivation), which can generate changes in pro-inflammatory cytokines, blood glucose levels and metabolic alterations.

Objetivo

To analyze the inflammatory profile of the hypothalamus, sleep and locomotor behavior of male and female mice in an animal model of RLS with iron deficiency.

Métodos

Male and female C57 mice at 28 days of age were distributed into a control group (CTRL) and an iron-deficient group (ID) with a sample size of 10 animals per group and an iron-restricted diet during the experiment. Hematocrit and Open Field were performed on the 4th and 8th week of diet, glucose tolerance test (GTT) and insulin tolerance test (ITT) on the 8th week and sleep analysis after 10 weeks of diet. The NFKB, TLR4, IKK, JNK and AKT proteins were analyzed in the hypothalamus by the western blotting (WB) technique. In the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), the TNF-alpha, IL1B and AKT genes were analyzed. Data were analyzed by the t test or by the Bonferroni post hoc Mixed Linear Model.

Resultados

In the open field and hematocrit, no statistical differences were observed. In the GTT and ITT tests, no differences were observed between the groups. The ID group of male animals showed reduced sleep efficiency (p=0.028), increased paw movement (p=0.0270), decreased REM sleep (p=0.0138), decreased slow-wave sleep (p=0.0262) and increased waking time (p=0.0044) in the light cycle compared to the CTRL group. In females, there was an increase in REM sleep in the ID group (p=0.0396). In the animal model of males, a statistical difference was found for AKT in CRP with a reduction for the group with iron deficiency (p=0.02). In females, there was a reduction in the protein content of AKT in the group with iron deficiency (p=0.0112) in WB, while in inflammatory proteins no differences were observed, either for females or for males.

Conclusões

Taking into account the results obtained, it was observed that male animals in the iron-deficient group had a greater influence of the iron diet on sleep patterns and RLS patterns than females in the same group.While no changes in locomotor behavior and inflammatory profile were identified, it is imperative to conduct further studies to fully understand the inflammatory mechanisms in RLS.

Financial support: FAPESP 2022/07548-0, 2022/07009-2 e 2020/13074-6.

Palavras -chave

RLS; Inflammation; Iron.