Impact of Light at Night on Cardiac Arrest Outcome

Professional Biological Sciences: 1st Place (The Ohio State University Edward F. Hayes Graduate Research Forum)Little is known about the influence of hospital environment on patient recovery. Nighttime light exposure is particularly prevalent in the hospital setting and may be detrimental because of its neuroinflammatory effects. We used a mouse model of cardiac arrest (CA) to test the hypothesis that exposure to dim light at night after cerebral ischemia impairs recovery. Mice housed in a standard light/dark cycle (LD) underwent a CA or SHAM procedure, then either remained in LD or were exposed to a light/dim light cycle (dLAN). Mortality during the first week after CA was 4-fold higher in mice exposed to dLAN relative to LD. Furthermore, surviving dLAN-CA mice had greater neuroinflammation and hippocampal cell death than LD-CA mice. dLAN likely affects CA recovery by elevating inflammation; selective inhibition of IL-1β or TNFα ameliorated the effects of dLAN light on CA recovery. In addition, restricting the wavelength of the nighttime light exposure to nm, eliminated the detrimental effects of light exposure on CA outcome. Together, these data suggest that lighting in clinical settings may affect patient recovery.A five-year embargo was granted for this item