Rodent models of human narcolepsy-cataplexy

7. Conclusions: Behavioral and electrophysiological analysis of orexin^-/- mice, together with studies on narcoleptic OX2R-deficient dogs, made a big jump in our understanding on narcolepsy-cataplexy, as well as regulation of sleep/wake cycle. Mouse molecular genetics succeeded to dissect non-REM and REM sleep regulatory processes by comparing mutants of every component of the orexin signaling pathway. Furthermore, obesity in orexin/ataxin-3 transgenic and orexin^-/- mice directed researchers' interest toward metabolic abnormalities in narcolepsy patients. One of big advantages of using rodent models is easiness to prepare large number of animals for systematic studies. Detailed analyses of mouse and rat models of narcolepsy described here would not only deepen our understanding of disturbances of sleep regulation in narcolepsy but might also find out novel aspects of physiological abnormalities in human narcolepsy patients.