Loss Of Sleep, Even For A Single Night, Increases Inflammation In The Body

Loss of sleep, even for a few short hours during the night, can prompt one’s immune system to turn against healthy tissue and organs.

A new article reports that losing sleep for even part of one night can trigger the key cellular pathway that produces tissue-damaging inflammation.

The findings suggest a good night’s sleep can ease the risk of both heart disease and autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis.

Specifically, the researchers measured the levels of nuclear factor (NF)-?B, a transcription factor that serves a vital role in the body’s inflammatory signaling, in healthy adults.

These measurements were repeatedly assessed, including in the morning after baseline (or normal) sleep, after partial sleep deprivation (where the volunteers were awake from 11 pm to 3:00 am), and after recovery sleep.

In the morning after sleep loss, they discovered that activation of (NF)-?B signaling was significantly greater than after baseline or recovery sleep. It’s important to note that they found this increase in inflammatory response in only the female subjects.

These data close an important gap in understanding the cellular mechanisms by which sleep loss enhances inflammatory biology in humans, with implications for understanding the association between sleep disturbance and risk of a wide spectrum of medical conditions including cardiovascular disease, arthritis, diabetes, certain cancers, and obesity.

Read more at ScienceDaily