0094 Impact of Insufficient Sleep on Biomarkers of Neurodegeneration and Neuroinflammation in Healthy Adults
Conference Proceeding
Overview
abstract
Abstract; ; Introduction; Sleep disturbances are common among individuals with neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). Furthermore, sleep disturbances are associated with accelerated cognitive decline and an increased risk of developing AD. Here we examined the impact of four nights of insufficient sleep on biomarkers of neurodegeneration in healthy adults. We hypothesized that insufficient sleep would increase circulating concentrations of markers of neurodegeneration and neuroinflammation including glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), neurofilament light chain (NfL), tau protein, and ubiquitin carboxy-terminal hydrolase 1 (UCHL1).; ; ; Methods; Eighteen healthy adults (8 females/10 males) with a mean age of 25±3 years and a mean BMI of 22.7±1.8 kg/m2 participated in a 6-day inpatient study. The protocol consisted of one 9-hour sleep opportunity, followed by four consecutive nights of 5-hour sleep opportunities, and one night of recovery sleep. Fasting blood samples were drawn in the morning, one hour after waking following the initial 9-hour sleep opportunity (baseline), and after the fourth night of insufficient sleep. Samples were analyzed by the Quanterix single molecule array SR-X Analyzer. Single-tailed paired t-tests were performed for a priori hypotheses. Two-tailed t-tests explored potential sex differences. Results are reported as mean±SD.; ; ; Results; Participants averaged 7.9±0.8 hours of actigraphy recorded sleep at baseline and 4.5±0.3 hours during insufficient sleep. Baseline concentrations of each biomarker were as follows: GFAP 36.0±12.2, pg/mL; NfL, 4.4±2.0 pg/mL; tau protein, 1.7±0.6 pg/mL; and UCHL1, 17.2±12.5 pg/ml. Compared to baseline, four nights of insufficient sleep resulted in a 18±36% increase in GFAP (p=0.03) and a 13±23% increase in NfL (p=0.03), while tau protein and UCHL1 remained unchanged. No sex differences were detected in the biomarker responses to insufficient sleep.; ; ; Conclusion; Four nights of insufficient sleep led to increases in GFAP and NfL, which are markers of brain injury and inflammation and are elevated in AD. These findings highlight the importance of adequate sleep duration and provide a potential mechanistic link between sleep disruption and the development neurodegenerative conditions.; ; ; Support (if any); National Institutes of Health General Clinical Research Center grant RR-00036, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) K01DK110138, R03DK118309 & R01DK125653.;
