BGU Study Included among Top Submissions to Sleep Research Society 30th Anniversary Meeting

 
​

Children with sleep-disordered breathing often exhibit growth retardation and the upper airway obstruction in rat models mimic many of the features of human sleep-disordered breathing including the abnormal sleep and growth retardation. The mechanisms linking upper airway obstruction-induced sleep, growth impediment, and energy metabolism abnormalities are poorly understood.

Now, a new study supported by the Israel Science Foundation by Prof. Ariel Tarasiuk from Soroka University Medical Center and the Department of Physiology and Cell Biology and Prof. Yael Segev from the Shraga Segal Department of Microbiology and Immunology and PhD student Mohammad Assadi provides evidence that the abnormal growth and energy metabolism in upper airway obstruction in a rat model are associated with alteration in circulating anabolic hormones. Upregulation of ghrelin fails to stimulate the growth hormone axis, while at the same time it stimulates appetite. These results provide evidence of altered hormonal regulation of anabolic hormones leading to abnormal sleep and energy metabolism and growth retardation. 

Their abstract was chosen as one of the top submissions for the upcoming Sleep Research Society 30th Anniversary Annual Meeting to be held in Denver, Colorado in June.