Repeated Challenge of Insufficient Sleep: Endothelial Effects

Repeated Challenge of Insufficient Sleep: Effects on Endothelial Function

The 24-hour-a-day, 7-day a week, work-world arrived within our lifetimes, and is here to stay. Americans are working more and more, frequently at multiple jobs. The pattern of short sleep during the week followed by attempts to recover on the weekend is in common practice, but we know little of the associated health risks. What is the cost in terms of increasing known risk markers for cardiovascular disease, of repeated nights of insufficient sleep, and is this cost compounded with repetition, without adequate recovery? Evidence is accumulating to suggest that short sleep duration is linked to the development of metabolic and inflammation-associated diseases, such as cardiovascular disease. Mechanisms involved in the development of cardiovascular disease include impaired vascular function and inflammation. The current proposal is designed to investigate the effects of repeated periods of short nocturnal sleep duration in 4 cycles (each cycle consisting of 3 nights of 4 hours of sleep opportunity per night), and each cycle of short sleep followed by a single night of recovery sleep. Vascular reactivity will be assessed using brachial artery flow mediated dilation, and microcirculatory vasodilation will be assessed using perfusion imaging techniques. The dependence of IL-6 and sVCAM-1 as measured in peripheral circulation, on vascular function, will also be investigated.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Repeated Short Sleep Schedule
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: repeated cycles of short sleep

Detailed Description

Due to work, family, social and community obligations, millions of Americans cut back on sleep for several nights in a row before having an opportunity to catch up. When the opportunity does arise, it may only be for a single night, before the cycle of insufficient sleep repeats. This study investigated what happens to human biology when insufficient sleep becomes chronic and opportunities for recovery sleep are intermittent. It also investigated recovery sleep itself, and the biological processes involved in reversing the effects of an accumulated sleep deficit due to insufficient sleep duration.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 168
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Massachusetts
    • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02215
      • Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 25 years to 55 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Healthy volunteers
• Regular sleep-wake schedule

Exclusion Criteria:

• Diseases or medical conditions, including sleep disorders
• Current smoking
• Pregnant or nursing
• Recent time zone travel or shift work
• Regular medication use
• High blood pressure

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Placebo Comparator: normal sleep; Subjects have 8 hours of sleep opportunity per night	Behavioral: repeated cycles of short sleep; - 3 nights of 4 hours of sleep followed by a single recovery night of 8 hours; repeated for 4 cycles
Experimental: cycles of sleep restriction; subjects are exposed to bouts of reduced sleep duration. The sleep loss is the intervention (experimental challenge).	Behavioral: repeated cycles of short sleep; - 3 nights of 4 hours of sleep followed by a single recovery night of 8 hours; repeated for 4 cycles

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Vascular reactivity	22 days

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Inflammation	22 days

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
• Collaborators: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Janet M Mullington, Ph.D., Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): August 1, 2011
• Primary Completion (Actual): September 1, 2014
• Study Completion (Actual): September 1, 2014

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 30, 2012
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 30, 2012
• First Posted (Estimate): February 1, 2012

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): October 22, 2020
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 19, 2020
• Last Verified: July 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Nervous System Diseases; Dyssomnias; Sleep Wake Disorders; Neurologic Manifestations; Sleep Deprivation
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2010P000365; R01HL106782 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO