Acute sleep deprivation delays the glucagon-like peptide 1 peak response to breakfast in healthy men

Abstract

Objective: Previous experiments have demonstrated that acute sleep loss impairs glucose homeostasis and increases food intake in humans. The incretin hormone glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) enhances postprandial insulin secretion and promotes satiety. Hypothesizing that the detrimental metabolic effects of sleep curtailment imply alterations in GLP-1 signaling, we investigated 24-h serum total GLP-1 concentrations during total sleep deprivation (TSD) and a normal sleep/wake cycle (comprising ∼8 h of sleep) in 12 healthy young men.

Methods: Sessions started at 1800 h, and subjects were provided with standardized meals. Assessments of serum GLP-1 took place in 1.5- to 3-h intervals, focusing on the response to breakfast intake (3.8 MJ).

Results: Across conditions, 24-h concentration profiles of GLP-1 were characterized by the expected postprandial increases (P<0.001). Although there were no differences in magnitude between conditions (P>0.11), the postprandial GLP-1 peak response to breakfast intake was delayed by ∼90 min following sleep loss in comparison with regular sleep (P<0.02).

Conclusions: RESULTS indicate that acute TSD exerts a mild, but discernible effect on the postprandial dynamics of circulating GLP-1 concentrations in healthy men.

Figures

Figure 1

Twenty-four hours serum concentrations of GLP-1 under conditions of a normal sleep/wake cycle and TSD. Data are mean values±s.e.m. (a) Left panel: serum GLP-1 concentrations during a regular 24 hour sleep-wake cycle (starting at 1800) and 24 hours of TSD, respectively, in 12 healthy men. Values were normalized by dividing individual data by the respective mean value across the 24-h sampling period. Right panel: serum concentrations of GLP-1 averaged across the respective 24 h-periods (black bar, regular sleep-wake cycle; white bar, TSD). (b) Postprandial delay of normalized GLP-1 peak concentrations during the 270 min following breakfast intake (black, sleep condition; white, TSD condition). Left panel shows individual responses with respective subject numbers, right panel indicates average delays in both conditions. Shaded areas indicate standardized meals and the respective calorific content as well as the nocturnal sleep/sleep deprivation period. ad lib., ad libitum. *P=0.017; paired Wilcoxon signed rank test.