Actigraphic evidence of persistent sleep disruption following repetitive mild traumatic brain injury in a gyrencephalic model

Abstract We studied the effect of multimodal traumatic brain injuries on daily sleep/activity patterns and related histology. Gyrencephalic ferrets wore actigraphs and received military-relevant brain injuries including shockwaves, strong rotational impact, and variable stress, which were evaluated up to 6 months post injury. Sham and Baseline animals exhibited activity patterns occurring in distinct clusters of high activity, interspersed with periods of low activity. In the Injury and Injury + Stress groups, activity clusters diminished and overall activity patterns became significantly more dispersed at 4 weeks post injury with significant sleep fragmentation. Additionally, the Injury + Stress group exhibited a significant decrease in daytime high activity up to 4 months post injury. At 4 weeks post injury, the reactive astrocyte (GFAP) immunoreactivity was significantly greater in both the injury groups compared to Sham, but did not differ at 6 months post injury. The intensity of immunoreactivity of the astrocytic endfeet that surround blood vessels (visualized with aquaporin 4; AQP4), however, differed significantly from Sham at 4 weeks post injury (in both injured groups) and at 6 months (Injury + Stress only). As the distribution of AQP4 plays a key role in the glymphatic system, we suggest that glymphatic disruption occurs in ferrets after the injuries described here.