Effects of sleep modulation during pregnancy in the mother and offspring: Evidences from preclinical research

Abstract

Disturbed sleep during gestation may lead to adverse outcomes for both mother and child. Animal research plays an important role in providing insights into this research field by enabling ethical and methodological requirements that are not possible in humans. Here, we present an overview and discuss the main research findings related to the effects of prenatal sleep deprivation in animal models. Using systematic review approaches, we retrieved 42 articles dealing with some type of sleep alteration.The most frequent research topics in this context were maternal sleep deprivation, maternal behaviour, offspring behaviour, development of sleep-wake cycles in the offspring, hippocampal neurodevelopment, pregnancy viability, renal physiology, hypertension and metabolism. This overview indicates that the number of basic studies in this field is growing, and provides biological plausibility to suggest that sleep disturbances might be detrimental to both mother and offspring by promoting increased risk at the behavioural, hormonal, electrophysiological, metabolic and epigenetic levels. More studies on the effects of maternal sleep deprivation are needed, in light of their major translational perspective.

Association of maternal sleep before and during pregnancy with sleep and developmental problems in 1-year-old infants

“…Animal studies have shown that the circadian rhythm is affected by maternal life rhythms via endogenous substances such as melatonin 14 , 15 . Animal studies have also reported that exposure to sleep deprivation or artificial disappearance of light–dark cycle during pregnancy affects the offspring’s circadian rhythm abnormality and abnormal behavioral pattern 16 , 17 . In this study, mother’s short sleep and late bedtime were associated with the offspring’s sleeping problems, in part, because of the influence of maternal life rhythm during the fetal period.…”

Epigenetics of Sleep Disorders: An Emerging Field in Diagnosis and Therapeutics

“…Sleep disorders have been associated with the occurrence of metabolic [ 27 ], cardiovascular [ 28 ], and mood and cognitive diseases [ 29 ], as well as tumor aggressiveness and poor prognosis in cancer [ 30 ]. Moreover, gestational sleep disturbances can lead to adverse outcomes for both the mother and the child [ 31 ].…”

Impact of Early Nutrition, Physical Activity and Sleep on the Fetal Programming of Disease in the Pregnancy: A Narrative Review

“…In the study of Kovac et al [ 127 ], they found a modest interaction between a single nucleotide polymorphism in PER3 and triglycerides on the association with preterm birth. Sleep disturbances during pregnancy might be detrimental to both mother and offspring by promoting increased risk at the behavioural, electrophysiological, metabolic and epigenetic levels and are associated with some hormonal changes, including: increased progesterone levels (causing fatigue and daytime sleepiness), increased estrogen levels (which selectively decrease REM sleep activation in the preoptic ventrolateral area), alterations in cortisol secretion (which decreases REM sleep and increases slow wave sleep), alterations in prolactin levels (which exacerbates slow wave sleep), alterations in growth hormone levels (associated with the initiation and maintenance of slow wave sleep) and these changes play an important role in the growth and development of the fetus [ 21 , 128 ]. Although these changes obey a normal physiological process in pregnant women, they can generate complications, especially when obesity occurs, since the prevalence of sleep apnea is higher.…”

“…On the other hand, physiological changes that occur during pregnancy, are associated with changes in sleep architecture. These changes can cause negative effects on the health of the mother and her offspring both at a psychological level, as well as at a metabolic and epigenetic level [ 21 ]. Also, sleep duration and quality have an impact in dietary patterns which has a direct impact on the offspring’s health outcomes [ 22 ].…”