Variation in the sexual behavior and blood count parameters induced by sleep deprivation in male rats

Sleep is a fundamental biological requirement, and lack of sleep has increasingly been recognized to cause metabolic consequences and adversely affect immune function. Recent articles have pointed to how sleep and sexual functions may be interlinked, involving inflammation, vascular alterations, tissue damage, and endothelial dysfunction.

We examined the effect of paradoxical sleep deprivation on sexual behavior and hemogram parameters in male rats. In addition, we also explored whether 7 days of recovery sleep is sufficient to offset these detriments.

Male rats were given sexual experience through training. At the fifth test, the sexually vigorous males were randomly separated into three experimental groups: paradoxical sleep deprivation (rats submitted to 96 h of paradoxical sleep deprivation, n = 6), recovery sleep (recovery sleep 7 days after paradoxical sleep deprivation, n = 6), and control (n = 10). We evaluated the sexual behaviors of three groups. Blood samples were collected to analyze hemogram parameters.

In this study, we recognized that repeated copulatory tests can lead to changes in sexual behavior over time. We found that 96 h of acute sleep deprivation impaired the sexual behavior of male rats. Our results demonstrated that 96 h of paradoxical sleep deprivation also increased levels of white blood cell subpopulations, in particular neutrophils. Recovery sleep after sleep deprivation has a certain reversal effect on white blood cell subgroups and impairment of sexual behavior, with some signs that not all levels were back to baseline even after 7 days of recovery.

In general, we found that 96 h of paradoxical sleep deprivation impaired the sexual behavior of male rats. Our results demonstrated that paradoxical sleep deprivation can cause systemic inflammation by affecting white blood cell subpopulations, in particular neutrophils. Seven days of recovery sleep after sleep deprivation has a certain reversal effect to these impairments.