Abstract
Sleep deprivation (SD) induces hippocampal damage. Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is a neuronal protective factor. Silence information regulating factor 1 (Sirt1) plays an important role in neuroprotection. Therefore, this study was aimed at exploring whether H2S meliorates SD-induced hippocampal damage and whether Sirt1 mediates this protective role of H2S. We found that sodium hydrosulfide (NaHS, a donor of H2S) alleviated SD-generated hippocampal oxidative stress, including increases in the activation of SOD and the level of GSH as well as a decrease in the level of MDA. Meanwhile, we found that NaHS reduced SD-exerted hippocampal endoplasmic reticulum (ER) Stress, including downregulations of GRP78, CHOP, and cleaved-caspase-12 expression. Moreover, NaHS reduced the apoptosis in the SD-exposed hippocampus, and this included decreases in the number of apoptotic cells and the activation of caspase-3, downregulation of Bax expression, and upregulation of Bcl-2 expression. NaHS upregulated the expression of Sirt1 in the hippocampus of SD-exposed rats. Furthermore, Sirtinol, the inhibitor of Sirt1, abrogated the protection of NaHS against SD-exerted hippocampal oxidative stress, ER stress, and apoptosis. These results suggested that H2S alleviates SD-induced hippocampal damage by upregulation of hippocampal Sirt1.