Disruption of the structure of regular sleep is a common cause of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer′s disease and Parkinson′s disease, and its pathogenesis may be related to the deposition of waste products in the central nervous system. The glymphatic pathway, which is essentially a periarterial cerebrospinal fluid inflow pathway and peripheral venous clearance pathway, is functionally dependent on interstitial bulk flow coupling supported by aquaporin-4 on the astrocyte end-foot, also known as the lymphoid glial system. The glymphatic pathway, which removes waste proteins from the brain, is active primarily during sleep, and sleep quality declines with age, while the glymphatic pathway system also deteriorates with age, suggesting a relationship between sleep disturbances and symptom progression in neurodegeneration, and glymphatic system as a link closely links the two. The interaction of sleep, aging, metabolic waste and glymphatic pathway reticulation provides new clues to the pathogenesis of central nervous system degenerative diseases, and the glymphatic pathway may constitute a new target on treatment. The recent research progress on the effects of sleep and sleep disorders on the circulation of the glymphatic system, and proposes the possibility of sleep intervention to slow down the impairment of the lymphoid system function or even restore the function of the lymphoid system and thus improve the disease development process were reviewed in this paper.

Sleep deprivation; Sleep disorders; Degenerative diseases; Glymphatic system