The longitudinal connection between depressive symptoms and inflammation: Mediation by sleep quality

Role of Sleep in Depressive Disorders and the Potential Therapeutic Role of Short-Term Sleep Deprivation and Light Therapy: A Review

Depression affects about 280 million people globally and is marked by persistent sadness and impaired daily functioning. Sleep disturbances are prevalent in major depressive disorder, affecting roughly 90% of patients, and are linked to the severity and progression of depression. This review emphasizes the critical role of sleep in depressive disorders and evaluates the alternative treatments bright light therapy and sleep deprivation. Sleep disturbances are not only symptoms but also mediators in the relationship between depression and other conditions, such as anxiety, chronic inflammation, emotional dysregulation, and cognitive decline. Effective management of depressive disorders must address these sleep issues. Bright light therapy, which uses artificial light to mimic natural sunlight, is effective for treating seasonal affective disorder and non-seasonal major depressive disorder. It is well tolerated, can be used alone or with antidepressants, and often improves both mood and sleep quality. In contrast, sleep deprivation, which involves enforced wakefulness, can provide rapid symptom relief. However, its effects are generally short-lived, and there is a risk of inducing mania in patients with bipolar disorder. In conclusion, sleep significantly impacts the severity and progression of depressive disorders. Bright light therapy and sleep deprivation offer promising alternatives to conventional treatments. The aim of this review is to underscore the importance of sleep in depression and advocate for the consideration of these alternative treatment methods to improve patient outcomes.

Objectively measured prolonged sleep is associated with plasma cytokines in older adults with mild cognitive impairment

This study aimed to determine whether objective sleep time is associated with the concentrations of various plasma cytokines in older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). In total, 118 adults with MCI (66 women; mean age: 75.7 years) participated in this prospective cohort study. All participants were required to wear a wristband sensor for 7.8 days, on average, every 3 months for 1 year and undergo measurement of 27 plasma cytokines using multiplex immunoassays. After adjusting for potential confounders, the associations of total sleep time with cytokine concentrations were assessed by multiple linear regression analysis. The total sleep time was significantly correlated with plasma interleukin (IL)-9 and macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1β levels (r = 0.239, p = 0.009, and r = 0.242, p = 0.008, respectively). Moreover, these associations remained significant after adjusting for covariates, including demographic characteristics, lifestyle-related diseases, and apolipoprotein E status (β = 0.272, 95% confidence interval: 0.095-0.448, p = 0.003, and β = 0.27, 95% confidence interval: 0.092-0.449, p = 0.003, respectively). Thus, this study is the first to demonstrate the association between objective prolonged sleep and higher plasma IL-9 and MIP-1β levels in older adults with MCI.

The influence of inflammation on cardiovascular disease in women

The onset of cardiovascular disease in women is almost a decade later than men, partly due to the protective effect of estrogen prior to menopause. Recently, it was noted that while there have been advances in improving the morbidity and mortality from CVD in women older than 55 years, the improvement in younger women has been stagnant. The mechanism behind this lag is unclear. This manuscript reviews the literature available on the sex-specific inflammatory response in the context of traditional and non-traditional cardiovascular disease risk factors. Our review suggests that women have a differential inflammatory response to various disease states that increases their risk for CVD and warrants a distinct prioritization from men when calculating cardiovascular disease risk.