Prenatal sleep restriction altered learning ability and memory behaviour by decreasing hippocampal synaptic plasticity in offspring mice.

作者：Natasha Chitakwa, Na Chen, Chuan Chen, Yaqi Li, Di Wu · 发表于：Sleep Medicine · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1016/j.sleep.2025.106500 · 研究领域：Medicine

Inadequate sleep during pregnancy can have profound effects on offspring neurodevelopment, particularly on learning and memory abilities. This study explored whether prenatal sleep restriction (SR) induces learning and memory impairment in offspring by affecting neural plasticity in the hippocampus using four groups of pregnant mice: short-sleep-restriction (S-SR, 4 h), mid-sleep-restriction (M-SR, 10 h), long-sleep-restriction (L-SR, 18 h), and a control group without SR. SR was implemented from gestation day 8 until delivery. Changes in adult offspring and fetal hippocampal synapse structures were observed and synapse-synthesis-related protein (BDNF and Syt7) levels were measured to establish changes indicative of neurodevelopmental impairment. Offspring learning and memory abilities were further evaluated using Morris water maze test, passive avoidance test, and open field test from postnatal day 35. The findings revealed significant declines in spatial learning and memory across all SR groups. Additionally, adult offspring exhibited reduced hippocampal synapse numbers, thinner postsynaptic densities in S-SR and M-SR groups, and widened synaptic clefts in the L-SR group. Synapse-synthesis-related proteins, including brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and synaptotagmin-7 (Syt7), showed decreased expression in the hippocampus of offspring mice in all SR groups, with BDNF expression also reduced in fetal hippocampi. Moreover, BDNF methylation levels indicated significan...