Consistency where it counts: Sleep regularity is associated with circulating white blood cell count in young adults

No evidence linking sleep traits with white blood cell counts: Multivariable-adjusted and Mendelian randomization analyses

BACKGROUND

Disturbances in habitual sleep have been associated with multiple age-associated diseases. However, the biological mechanisms underpinning these associations remain largely unclear. We assessed the possible involvement of the circulating immune system by determining the associations between sleep traits and white blood cell counts using multivariable-adjusted linear regression and Mendelian randomization.

METHODS

Cross-sectional multivariable-adjusted linear regression analyses were done using participants within the normal range of total white blood cell counts (>4.5 × 109 and <11.0 × 109/μL) from UK Biobank. For the sleep traits, we examined (short and long) sleep duration, chronotype, insomnia symptoms and daytime dozing. Two-sample Mendelian randomization analyses were done using instruments for sleep traits derived from European-ancestry participants from UK Biobank (over 410,000 participants) and using SNP-outcome data derived from European-ancestry participants from the Blood Cell Consortium (N = 563,946) to which no data from UK Biobank contributed.

RESULTS

Using data from 357,656 participants (mean [standard deviation] age: 56.5 [8.1] years, and 44.4% men), we did not find evidence that disturbances in any of the studied sleep traits were associated with differences in blood cell counts (total, lymphocytes, neutrophiles, eosinophiles and basophiles). Also, we did not find associations between disturbances in any of the studied sleep traits and white blood cell counts using Mendelian Randomization.

CONCLUSION

Based on the results from two different methodologies, disturbances in habitual sleep are unlikely to cause changes in blood cell counts and thereby differences in blood cell counts are unlikely to be underlying the observed sleep-disease associations.

Objectively regular sleep patterns and mortality in a prospective cohort: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis

Irregular sleep and non-optimal sleep duration separately have been shown to be associated with increased disease and mortality risk. We used data from the prospective cohort Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis sleep study (2010-2013) to investigate: do aging adults whose sleep is objectively high in regularity in timing and duration, and of sufficient duration tend to have increased survival compared with those whose sleep is lower in regularity and duration, in a diverse US sample? At baseline, sleep was measured by 7-day wrist actigraphy, concurrent with at-home polysomnography and questionnaires. Objective metrics of sleep regularity and duration from actigraphy were used for statistical clustering using sparse k-means clustering. Two sleep patterns were identified: "regular-optimal" (average duration: 7.0 ± 1.0 hr obtained regularly) and "irregular-insufficient" (duration: 5.8 ± 1.4 hr obtained with twice the irregularity). Using proportional hazard models with multivariate adjustment, we estimated all-cause mortality hazard ratios. Among 1759 participants followed for a median of 7.0 years (Q1-Q3, 6.4-7.4 years), 176 deaths were recorded. The "regular-optimal" group had a 39% lower mortality hazard than did the "irregular-insufficient" sleep group (hazard ratio [95% confidence interval]: 0.61 [0.45, 0.83]) after adjusting for socio-demographics, lifestyle, medical comorbidities and sleep disorders. In conclusion, a "regular-optimal" sleep pattern was significantly associated with a lower hazard of all-cause mortality. The regular-optimal phenotype maps behaviourally to regular bed and wake times, suggesting sleep benefits of adherence to recommended healthy sleep practices, with further potential benefits for longevity.

Sleep Variability, Eating Timing Variability, and Carotid Intima-Media Thickness in Early Adulthood

Background Day-to-day variability in sleep patterns and eating timing may disrupt circadian rhythms and has been linked with various adverse cardiometabolic outcomes. However, the extent to which variability in sleep patterns and eating timing relate to atherosclerotic development in subclinical stages remains unclear. Methods and Results Generally healthy adults (N=62, 29.3±7.3 years, 66% female) completed 14 days of sleep and dietary assessments via wrist accelerometry and photo-assisted diet records, respectively. Variability in sleep duration, sleep onset, eating onset (time of first caloric consumption), eating offset (time of last caloric consumption), and caloric midpoint (time at which 50% of total daily calories are consumed) were operationalized as the SD across 14 days for each variable. Separate regression models evaluated the cross-sectional associations between sleep and eating variability metrics with end-diastolic carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) measured via ultrasonography. Models adjusted for age, sex, systolic blood pressure, sleep duration, and total energy intake. Each 60-minute increase in sleep duration SD and sleep onset SD were associated with a 0.049±0.016 mm (P=0.003) and 0.048±0.017 mm (P=0.007) greater CIMT, respectively. Variability in eating onset and offset were not associated with CIMT; however, each 60-minute increase in caloric midpoint SD was associated with a 0.033±0.015 mm greater CIMT (P=0.029). Exploratory post hoc analyses suggested that sleep duration SD and sleep onset SD were stronger correlates of CIMT than caloric midpoint SD. Conclusions Variability in sleep patterns and eating timing are positively associated with clinically relevant increases in CIMT, a biomarker of subclinical atherosclerosis, in early adulthood.

A proprietary black cumin oil extract (Nigella sativa) (BlaQmax®) modulates stress-sleep-immunity axis safely: Randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study

Objective

Stress, sleep, and immunity are important interdependent factors that play critical roles in the maintenance of health. It has been established that stress can affect sleep, and the quality and duration of sleep significantly impact immunity. However, single drugs capable of targeting these factors are limited because of their multi-targeting mechanisms. The present study investigated the influence of a proprietary thymoquinone-rich black cumin oil extract (BCO-5) in modulating stress, sleep, and immunity.

Methods

A randomized double-blinded placebo-controlled study was carried out on healthy volunteers with self-reported non-refreshing sleep issues (n = 72), followed by supplementation with BCO-5/placebo at 200  mg/day for 90  days. Validated questionnaires, PSQI and PSS, were employed for monitoring sleep and stress respectively, along with the measurement of cortisol and melatonin levels. Immunity markers were analyzed at the end of the study.

Results

In the BCO-5 group, 70% of the participants reported satisfaction with their sleep pattern on day 7 and 79% on day 14. Additionally, both inter- and intra- group analyses of the total PSQI scores and component scores (sleep latency, duration, efficiency, quality, and daytime dysfunction) on days 45 and 90 showed the effectiveness of BCO-5 in the improvement of sleep (p < 0.05). PSS-14 analysis revealed a significant reduction in stress, upon both intra (p < 0.001) and inter-group (p < 0.001) comparisons. The observed reduction in stress among the BCO-5 group, with respect to the placebo, was significant with an effect size of 1.19 by the end of the study (p < 0.001). A significant correlation was also observed between improved sleep and reduced stress as evident from PSQI and PSS. Furthermore, there was a significant modulation in melatonin, cortisol, and orexin levels. Hematological/immunological parameters further revealed the immunomodulatory effects of BCO-5.

Conclusion

BCO-5 significantly modulated the stress-sleep-immunity axis with no side effects and restored restful sleep.

Irregular sleep and cardiometabolic risk: Clinical evidence and mechanisms

Sleep regularity is an essential part of the multidimensional sleep health framework. The phenomenon of irregular sleep patterns is widespread in contemporary lifestyles. This review synthesizes clinical evidence to summarize the measures of sleep regularity and discusses the role of different sleep regularity indicators in developing cardiometabolic diseases (coronary heart disease, hypertension, obesity, and diabetes). Existing literature has proposed several measurements to assess sleep regularity, mainly including the standard deviation (SD) of sleep duration and timing, sleep regularity index (SRI), interdaily stability (IS), and social jetlag (SJL). Evidence on associations between sleep variability and cardiometabolic diseases varies depending on the measure used to characterize variability in sleep. Current studies have identified a robust association between SRI and cardiometabolic diseases. In comparison, the association between other metrics of sleep regularity and cardiometabolic diseases was mixed. Meanwhile, the associations of sleep variability with cardiometabolic diseases differ across the population. SD of sleep characteristics or IS may be more consistently associated with HbA1c in patients with diabetes compared with the general population. The association between SJL and hypertension for patients with diabetes was more accordant than in the general population. Interestingly, the age-stratified association between SJL and metabolic factors was observed in the present studies. Furthermore, the relevant literature was reviewed to generalize the potential mechanisms through which irregular sleep increases cardiometabolic risk, including circadian dysfunction, inflammation, autonomic dysfunction, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis disorder, and gut dysbiosis. Health-related practitioners should give more attention to the role of sleep regularity on human cardiometabolic in the future.

Sleep duration irregularity is associated with elevated blood pressure in young adults

Sleep irregularity (i.e., highly variable sleep patterns) is an emerging risk factor for cardiometabolic disease. Though irregular sleep patterns are common among young adults, the cardiometabolic health (CMH) repercussions of sleep irregularity in this population are unclear. We examined associations between sleep duration and irregularity with measures of CMH in 44 (24 M/20 F, 23 ± 5y, BMI 26 ± 4 kg/m², blood pressure (BP): 125/71 ± 14/9 mmHg) young adults. Participants wore actigraphy monitors for seven-days and sleep duration irregularity was operationalized as the standard deviation of nightly sleep duration (sleep SD). CMH variables of interest included brachial and aortic BP, arterial stiffness (cf-PWV), augmentation index (AIx75), and fasting blood glucose and lipids. Associations between sleep duration and sleep SD with CMH variables were assessed via correlations adjusted for sex and BMI. Sleep duration generally was not associated with CMH indices. However, sleep SD was associated with brachial systolic (r = 0.433, p = .027) and diastolic BP (r = 0.415, p = .035). Similarly, sleep duration SD was associated with aortic systolic BP (r = 0.447, p = .022). Our findings show that sleep irregularity, but not duration, is associated with higher brachial and central BP in young adults.Abbreviations: AIx75: augmentation index at a heart rate of 75 beats per minute; BP: blood pressure; CMH: cardiometabolic health; cf-PWV: carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity; DXA: dual x-ray absorptiometry; mg/dl: milligrams per deciliter; PWA: pulse wave analysis; PWV: pulse wave velocity; sleep duration SD: standard deviation of nightly sleep duration.

Circadian Rhythms and Melatonin Metabolism in Patients With Disorders of Gut-Brain Interactions

Circadian rhythms are cyclic patterns of physiological, behavioural and molecular events that occur over a 24-h period. They are controlled by the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), the brain’s master pacemaker which governs peripheral clocks and melatonin release. While circadian systems are endogenous, there are external factors that synchronise the SCN to the ambient environment including light/dark cycles, fasting/fed state, temperature and physical activity. Circadian rhythms also provide internal temporal organisation which ensures that any internal changes that take place are centrally coordinated. Melatonin synchronises peripheral clocks to the external time and circadian rhythms are regulated by gene expression to control physiological function. Synchronisation of the circadian system with the external environment is vital for the health and survival of an organism and as circadian rhythms play a pivotal role in regulating GI physiology, disruption may lead to gastrointestinal (GI) dysfunction. Disorders of gut-brain interactions (DGBIs), also known as functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs), are a group of diseases where patients experience reoccurring gastrointestinal symptoms which cannot be explained by obvious structural abnormalities and include functional dyspepsia (FD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Food timing impacts on the production of melatonin and given the correlation between food intake and symptom onset reported by patients with DGBIs, chronodisruption may be a feature of these conditions. Recent advances in immunology implicate circadian rhythms in the regulation of immune responses, and DGBI patients report fatigue and disordered sleep, suggesting circadian disruption. Further, melatonin treatment has been demonstrated to improve symptom burden in IBS patients, however, the mechanisms underlying this efficacy are unclear. Given the influence of circadian rhythms on gastrointestinal physiology and the immune system, modulation of these rhythms may be a potential therapeutic option for reducing symptom burden in these patients.