The renin secretion profile under the influence of sleep deprivation and the neuropeptides CRH and GHRH

Abstract It is already known that during normal sleep plasma renin activity (PRA) shows oscillations with decreases during rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep and increases during non-REM (NREM) sleep. We also know that renin correlates positively with slow-wave sleep (SWS). Sleep deprivation is known to enhance significantly SWS and slow wave activity (SWA, known as δ power). Based on these findings we addressed the question whether and to which extent sleep deprivation may affect the synchronization found between PRA and REM sleep during normal sleep and whether this synchronization is affected by other sleep regulating factors. To investigate these questions we compared sleep EEG and sleep-related free renin levels in 48 normal women and men 19–69 years old between nights before and after 40 h of sleep deprivation. During the recovery night, four bolus injections of either GHRH, CRH or placebo were injected via long catheter around sleep onset. When compared to baseline after each of the treatments SWS, SWA and renin levels increased. The characteristical oscillation profiles of renin during normal sleep were also preserved after sleep deprivation. Similar to normal sleep our data support also a distinct link between nocturnal renin secretion and SWS after sleep deprivation and that independent of the applied treatments.