Fig 1.
Body weights and blood pressures with or without REM sleep deprivation (REMSD).
(A)Body weights of young-aged rats.(B)Body weights of middle-aged rats (C)Blood pressures of young-aged rats.(D)Blood pressures of middle-aged rats.Data were expressed as means±SEM; n = 6 rats per study group. *P<0.05 vs. CTRL; #P<0.05 vs.REMSD. CTRL refers to rats not subjected to REM sleep deprivation. SBP, systolic blood pressure; DBP, diastolic blood pressure; L-arg, L-arginine.
Fig 2.
Acetylcholine (ACh)-induced vasorelaxation of the aortas of rats.
(A)ACh-induced vasorelaxation of young-aged rats.(B)ACh-induced vasorelaxation of middle-aged.The dilation response to ACh is presented as the percentage of the contractile response induced by phenylephrine (PE, 10−6 M). Each point represents a mean±SEM; n = 6 rats per study group. *Emax significantly different from that of CTRL (*P<0.05 and **P<0.01). #Emax significantly different from that of REMSD (#P<0.05). CTRL, control rats without REM sleep deprivation; REMSD,REM sleep deprivation; L-arg, L-arginine.
Fig 3.
Different channel mediated vasorelaxation of the aortas of middle-aged rats.
(A)NO-mediated vasorelaxation.NO-mediated relaxation was determined in the presence of 10 μM indomethacin and 1 μM TEA to block PGI2 and EDHF, respectively. (B)PGI2-mediated vasorelaxation.PGI2-mediated relaxation was evaluated with 100 μM L-NAME and 1 μM TEA to block NO and EDHF, respectively.(C)EDHF-mediated vasorelaxation.EDHF-mediated relaxation was determined in the presence of 100 μM L-NAME and 10 μM indomethacin to block NO and PGI2, respectively. Each point represents a mean±SEM; n = 6 rats per study group. *Emax significantly different from that of CTRL (*P<0.05). #Emax significantly different from that of REMSD (#P<0.05). CTRL, control rats without REM sleep deprivation; REMSD, REM sleep deprivation; L-arg, L-arginine.
Fig 4.
NO production and cGMP concentration in the aortas of middle-aged rats.
(A)NO production. NO in the aorta was measured using the Greiss reagent. (B) cGMP concentration,cGMP in the aorta was measured using ELISA. Data were expressed as means±SEM; n = 6. *P<0.05 and **P<0.01 vs. CTRL; #P<0.05 and ##P<0.01 vs. REMSD. CTRL, control rats without REM sleep deprivation; REMSD, REM sleep deprivation; L-arg, L-arginine.
Fig 5.
Protein expression and phosphorylation of eNOS in the aortas of middle-aged rats.
Protein expression levels in the aorta were measured via (A)western blotting. (B and C)Chemiluminescent signals were detected and analyzed using the ChemiDoc XRS Imaging System.Data were expressed as means±SEM; n = 6. *P<0.05 and **P<0.01 vs. CTRL; #P<0.05 vs. REMSD. CTRL, control rats without REM sleep deprivation; REMSD, REM sleep deprivation; L-arg, L-arginine.