Sleep deprivation exacerbates seizures and diminishes GABAergic tonic inhibition

Abstract Patients with epilepsy report that sleep deprivation is a common trigger for breakthrough seizures. The basic mechanism of this phenomenon is unknown. In the Kv1.1-/- mouse model of epilepsy, daily sleep deprivation indeed exacerbated seizures though these effects were lost after the 3rd day. Sleep deprivation also accelerated mortality in ~52% of Kv1.1-/- mice, not observed in controls. Voltage-clamp experiments on the day after recovery from sleep deprivation showed reductions in GABAergic tonic inhibition in dentate granule cells both in Kv1.1-/- and wild-type mice. Our results suggest that sleep deprivation is detrimental to seizures and survival, possibly due to reductions in GABAergic tonic inhibition.