ArticleSleep2025
Enduring non-rapid eye movement sleep fragmentation following methotrexate chemotherapy in cancer-naïve mice.
Article in Sleep, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Survey of Sleep Practices Among Clinicians Working With Pediatric Oncology Patients.Psycho-oncology · 2026Article
- Obstructive sleep apnea and lung cancer: molecular underpinnings and clinical translational prospects.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2026Review
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5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
STUDY
objectivesSleep disruption is common in people with cancer and survivors, but understanding the mechanisms driving these problems is difficult due to heterogeneity among cancers, patients, and treatment modalities. We investigated whether the common antifolate chemotherapeutic agent methotrexate (MTX) promotes changes in sleep independent of cancer in adult mice.
methodsAdult mice (>7 weeks old, both sexes, n = 13) were exposed to either a clinically relevant chemotherapy regimen with methotrexate (n = 7) or saline (control, n = 6) accompanied by continuous EEG/EMG telemetry recording. Sleep states were scored as either wake, non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, or REM sleep in 5-second epochs weekly during MTX or saline treatment and then 2 weeks following the last injection to examine enduring changes in sleep-wake cycles.
resultsMTX exposure caused NREM sleep fragmentation, indicated by (1) shorter and more frequent NREM sleep bouts, (2) more transitions between wake and NREM sleep, and (3) more accumulated NREM sleep bouts over time. These effects were first detected after the second MTX injection and lasted into the 2-week follow-up recording. MTX did not alter delta power in NREM sleep, indicating no changes to sleep quality. The total time spent in each vigilance state remained unaffected by MTX use. Finally, when given MTX, male mice displayed more fragmented sleep compared to female mice.
conclusionsMethotrexate promotes NREM sleep fragmentation, without affecting sleep quality or time spent asleep. This effect is stronger in males. These data suggest that chemotherapy can cause long-term sleep disruption independent of cancer presence.
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