S-025
Chronic sleep loss and its effects on Immune responses in an experimental fly model
ANALÍA FERREYRA1, ESTEBAN BECKWITH1
  1. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias, UBA-CONICET, Argentina.
Presenting Author:
Analía Mercedes Ferreyra
analiaferreyra0@gmail.com
This research explores the relationship between sleep and immune function, hypothesizing that adequate sleep is essential for a properly functioning immune system. While acute sleep deprivation often elicits compensatory and adaptive responses indicative of behavioral resilience, chronic sleep restriction—commonly arising from prolonged exposure to environmental stressors such as predation, food scarcity, and social instability—may induce physiological alterations detrimental to health. To investigate these dynamics, the study utilizes Drosophila melanogaster as an experimental model due to its biological tractability and conserved sleep and immune mechanisms shared with mammals. Behavioral responses to infection were assessed through manual thoracic injections with Staphylococcus aureus, while sleep and activity patterns were monitored using the Ethoscope platform, which employs real-time tracking and machine learning algorithms. The platform also facilitates targeted sleep deprivation, enabling precise examination of how sustained sleep loss influences immune outcomes. In order to test the impact of sleep loss on immunity, we analyzed different parameters such as lifespan, sleep, activity and bacterial load.