Cannabinoid receptor 1 expression and pathological changes in rat hippocampus after deprivation of rapid eye movement sleep

To observe the expression of cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1R) mRNA and pathological changes in rat hippocampus after deprivation of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Totally 42 Sprague-Dawley male rats were randomly divided into cage control (CC), tank control (TC) and the sleep deprivation groups (SD). The SD and TC rats were sacrificed at the end of 1 d, 3 d and 5 d sleep deprivation periods, respectively. The modified multiple platform methods were established for the REM sleep deprivation. CB1R mRNA was measured by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The hippocampus sections of different stages were observed with electron microscope. In SD 1 d group, the expression of CB1R mRNA was significantly increased compared with the CC, TC, SD 3 d and SD 5 d groups (P