Scientists have discovered that sleep deprivation affects stem cells in mice. Researchers from the Stanford University School of Medicine discovered that a sleep deficit of just 4 hours can negatively affect the ability of stem cells to migrate to the bone marrow and help restore a damaged immune system. Stem cells from mice who had 4 hours less sleep than normal performed 50% worse than stem cells from well rested mice.
Thousands of stem cell transplants occur each year using hematopoietic stem cell, which have the ability to restore a person’s ability to produce healthy blood cells. Stem cell transplants are commonly used to treat cancer, immune system disorders, blood disorders and metabolic disorders.
It is very likely that sleep deprivation affects stem cells in human as well. At the moment there is little consideration to how rested the donor of the stem cells is before the procedure is undertaken. The research indicates that by simply ensuring the donor gets a good nights sleep, the effectiveness of stem cells could be dramatically improved.
As Asya Rolls, PhD explains: “We go to all this trouble to find a matching donor, but this research suggests that if the donor is not well-rested it can impact the outcome of the transplantation. However, it’s heartening to think that this is not an insurmountable obstacle; a short period of recovery sleep before transplant can restore the donor’s cells’ ability to function normally.”
Scientists used two groups of mice, one which had been well-rested and one that had been kept awake. They harvested some stem cells which were used on other mice who had received what would normally be a lethal dose of radiation. They found that the mice who received stem cells from well-rested mice had more myeloid cells, a type of immune cell.
This piece of research may very easily improve the outcomes of many stem cell transplants.
Source: Sleep deprivation affects stem cells, reducing transplant efficiency, study finds
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