HCRT and atherosclerosis: Recent experimental studies in murine models have shown that sleep fragmentation enhances atherosclerosis by suppressing the release of hypocretin (orexin) from the hypothalamus; suppression of hypocretin results in increased myeloid hematopoiesis and production of pro-inflammatory monocytes, likely by stimulating the release of CSF-1 by pre-neutrophilic precursors in the bone marrow61.