Nuclear factor-kappaB inhibitor peptide inhibits spontaneous and interleukin-1beta-induced sleep

Nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) is a transcription factor that when activated promotes production of several sleep-promoting substances such as interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and nerve growth factor. Therefore, we hypothesized that inhibition of NF-kappaB activation would attenuate sleep. A NF-kappaB cell-permeable inhibitor peptide (IP) was injected intracerebroventricularly (5 and 50 microg for rats, 100 microg for rabbits). On a separate day, time-matched control injections of a cell-permeable inactive control peptide were done in the same animals. The 50-microg dose of IP in rats and the 100-microg dose in rabbits significantly inhibited non-rapid eye movement sleep and rapid eye movement sleep if administered during the light period. Moreover, pretreatment of rabbits with 100 microg of the IP 12 h before intracerebroventricular injection of IL-1beta (10 ng) significantly attenuated IL-1beta-induced sleep and febrile responses. The current data support the hypothesis that a brain cytokine network is involved in sleep regulation and that NF-kappaB is a crucial factor in physiological sleep regulation.