加拿大多伦多大学的研究人员首次确定了一个导致严重睡眠障碍的潜在原因，这与帕金森氏病和其他神经功能退化性疾病紧密相关。
John Peever 博士说：“我们的研究首次对人类的REM睡眠行为障碍（RBD）建立了一种潜在的遗传学联系，这是很重要的，因为60%至80％的RBD患者，在其晚年，会发展为帕金森氏症或其他神经功能退化性疾病。” 相关文章发表于近期的《神经科学杂志》（The Journal of Neuroscience）。John Peever 博士是这篇文章的第一作者。
REM睡眠行为障碍（RBD）最常见的特点是，做梦时会有暴力的行为，所以称为“快速眼动睡眠”。RBD患者的肌肉并不会麻痹，他们会经常在自己的梦境里，通过迅速或暴力的行为来伤害自己或同床的人。在某些情况下，这类病人需要捆绑在他们的床上，以防止他们伤害自己或同床的人。
Peever的团队重点调查了RBD的遗传原因，因为造成这种疾病的根本原因还是未知的。有证据表明，让大脑处于兴奋状态可能会导致RBD，所以Peever的团队从遗传上使小鼠的大脑活跃起来，然后记录了他们的睡眠情况以及肌肉的活动状况。
Peever说：“我们发现，大脑处于兴奋状态的小鼠就像人类RBD患者一样，他们在REM睡眠时会有很强烈和很粗暴的行为。”
他们还发现，对小鼠进行氯硝西泮药物处理后，可以缓解RBD症状。这是一种用于治疗人类RBD的药物。
Peever的研究强调了找出RBD病因的重要性在于60%-80％的RBD患者后来会发展成为帕金森氏病患者。
Peever说：“RBD的治疗对了解和治疗帕金森氏病有直接的影响。”（生物探索译）
生物探索推荐英文原文：
Potential Cause of Severe Sleep Disorder Discovered, Implications for Parkinson's Disease
Researchers at the University of Toronto are the first to identify a potential cause for a severe sleep disorder that has been closely linked to Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases.
"Our research is the first to establish a potential genetic link to human REM sleep behaviour disorder (RBD). That's important because between 60 and 80 per cent of people diagnosed with human RBD develop Parkinson's disease or other neurodegenerative disorders later in life," says Dr. John Peever, lead author of the study that recently appeared in The Journal of Neuroscience.
Rapid-eye-movement sleep behaviour disorder (RBD) is most often characterized by violent movements that occur during dreaming sleep, also called rapid-eye-movement sleep. People who suffer from RBD do not experience normal muscle paralysis that prevents them from enacting their dreams and they often hurt themselves or their bed partners with their rapid, forceful movements. In some cases, patients need to be tied to their bed to prevent serious injury to themselves or their bedpartners.
Peever's team focused on investigating a genetic cause of RBD because the underlying cause of this disorder is unknown. There is evidence indicating that reduced brain inhibition could cause RBD, so Peever's team genetically reduced brain inhibition in mice and then recorded their sleep and muscle activity.
"We found that mice with reduced brain inhibition acted just like human RBD patients and they moved violently during REM sleep," says Peever. "This link strongly suggests that patients with RBD may also have impaired brain inhibition."
"Treating RBD could have direct implications for understanding and perhaps treating Parkinson's disease," says Peever.
They also found that RBD symptoms in mice could be alleviated by giving them clonazepam -- a drug used to treat human RBD.
Peever's research underscores the importance of identifying a cause of RBD as 60 -- 80 per cent of RBD sufferers subsequently develop Parkinson's.
Journal Reference:
1.P. L. Brooks, J. H. Peever. Impaired GABA and Glycine Transmission Triggers Cardinal Features of Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Behavior Disorder in Mice. Journal of Neuroscience, 2011; 31 (19): 7111 DOI:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0347-11.2011
