Ketogenic Diet Affects Sleep Architecture in C57BL/6J Wild Type and Fragile X Mice

Nearly half of children with fragile X syndrome experience sleep problems including trouble falling asleep and frequent nighttime awakenings. The goals here were to assess sleep–wake cycles in mice in response to Fmr1 genotype and a dietary intervention that reduces hyperactivity. Electroencephalography (EEG) results were compared with published rest–activity patterns to determine if actigraphy is a viable surrogate for sleep EEG. Specifically, sleep–wake patterns in adult wild type and Fmr1(KO) littermate mice were recorded after EEG electrode implantation and the recordings manually scored for vigilance states. The data indicated that Fmr1(KO) mice exhibited sleep–wake patterns similar to wild type littermates when maintained on a control purified ingredient diet. Treatment with a high-fat, low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet increased the percentage of non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep in both wild type and Fmr1(KO) mice during the dark cycle, which corresponded to decreased activity levels. Treatment with a ketogenic diet flattened diurnal sleep periodicity in both wild type and Fmr1(KO) mice. Differences in several sleep microstructure outcomes (number and length of sleep and wake bouts) supported the altered sleep states in response to a ketogenic diet and were correlated with altered rest–activity cycles. While actigraphy may be a less expensive, reduced labor surrogate for sleep EEG during the dark cycle, daytime resting in mice did not correlate with EEG sleep states.