Consequences of neonatal inflammatory nociceptive stimulation on sleep patterns of adult rats

Abstract

Invasive painful procedures are often performed in neonates admitted into intensive care units (ICU). The acute and long-term stimulation caused by these procedures can be investigated in animal models, such as newborn rats. Previous studies have shown that animals subjected to neonatal noxious stimulation, in adulthood may do not cope with stressful situations. These can bring out behavioral manifestations that once were in latent state; and stressful events in critical periods of development can undermine the resilience mechanisms to stress. In this scenario, this study proposes to use neonatal nociceptive stimulation (induced in the first or eighth day after birth, with the intraplantar injection of CFA Freund's adjuvant -complete) to analyze sleep parameters (macro and micro-architecture) at baseline conditions, post-stress and after the sleep deprivation (homeostatic response) in adulthood.