Sleep deprivation in human males and its effect on SCE rates in chromosomes--a preliminary study

The present preliminary study on 5 healthy volunteers deprived of sleep for a day showed a considerable increase in sister-chromatid exchange (SCE) rate in the chromosomes after sleep deprivation. Although the rate of increase varied between the studied subjects, interestingly the 5% plasma from a volunteer with a statistically significant increase after sleep deprivation, when supplemented to cell cultures from an age-matched normal subject, induced high SCEs. This suggests the presence/absence of some factor(s) in plasma samples of subjects showing high SCEs after sleep deprivation, playing a role in the induction of high SCEs in normal cells exposed to the samples in vitro. The present study also suggests that there could be categories which may or may not respond to sleep deprivation with high SCE induction and their plasma supplemented to normal cell culture in turn may or may not induce high SCEs. Nevertheless, the pathophysiological role of high SCEs induced by sleep deprivation in some cases remains intriguing and unresolved and needs further extensive study.