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. 2016 May 1;39(5):1059-62.
doi: 10.5665/sleep.5754.

Disrupted Sleep in Narcolepsy: Exploring the Integrity of Galanin Neurons in the Ventrolateral Preoptic Area

Yury V Gavrilov  1   2   3 , Brian A Ellison  1 , Mihoko Yamamoto  1 , Hasini Reddy  4 , Johannes Haybaeck  5 , Emmanuel Mignot  6 , Christian R Baumann  1   2 , Thomas E Scammell  1 , Philipp O Valko  1   2
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Disrupted Sleep in Narcolepsy: Exploring the Integrity of Galanin Neurons in the Ventrolateral Preoptic Area

Yury V Gavrilov et al. Sleep. .

Abstract

Study objectives: To examine the integrity of sleep-promoting neurons of the ventrolateral preoptic nucleus (VLPO) in postmortem brains of narcolepsy type 1 patients.

Methods: Postmortem examination of five narcolepsy and eight control brains.

Results: VLPO galanin neuron count did not differ between narcolepsy patients (11,151 ± 3,656) and controls (13,526 ± 9,544).

Conclusions: A normal number of galanin-immunoreactive VLPO neurons in narcolepsy type 1 brains at autopsy suggests that VLPO cell loss is an unlikely explanation for the sleep fragmentation that often accompanies the disease.

Keywords: galanin; narcolepsy; sleep fragmentation; ventrolateral preoptic area.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Photomicrograph of the ventrolateral preoptic area (VLPO) of a control brain, with neurons immunolabeled for galanin (A). The number of galaninergic VLPO neurons is similar in narcolepsy patients and controls, whereas the number of orexin neurons was significantly reduced and the number of histaminergic TMN neurons was significantly increased in narcolepsy patients compared to controls (B). *P < 0.001. 3V, third ventricle; OT, optic tract; PVN, paraventricular nucleus; SON, supraoptic nucleus. Scale bar, 1 mm.
Figure 2
Figure 2
In narcolepsy patients (open circles), the numbers of galaninergic VLPO neurons and orexin neurons are inversely correlated. In controls (closed circles), the association of the two systems tends to be opposite. The numbers of galaninergic VLPO neurons and histaminergic TMN neurons are not correlated.
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