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. 2008 Sep 15;64(6):538-40.
doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2008.05.004. Epub 2008 Jun 17.

Sleep loss activates cellular inflammatory signaling

Michael R Irwin  1 , Minge Wang, Denise Ribeiro, Hyong Jin Cho, Richard Olmstead, Elizabeth Crabb Breen, Otoniel Martinez-Maza, Steve Cole
Affiliations

Sleep loss activates cellular inflammatory signaling

Michael R Irwin et al. Biol Psychiatry. .

Abstract

Background: Accumulating evidence suggests that sleep disturbance is associated with inflammation and related disorders including cardiovascular disease, arthritis, and diabetes mellitus. This study was undertaken to test the effects of sleep loss on activation of nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB, a transcription factor that serves a critical role in the inflammatory signaling cascade.

Methods: In 14 healthy adults (seven women; seven men), peripheral blood mononuclear cell NF-kappaB was repeatedly assessed, along with enumeration of lymphocyte subpopulations, in the morning after baseline sleep, partial sleep deprivation (awake from 11 pm to 3:00 am), and recovery sleep.

Results: In the morning after a night of sleep loss, mononuclear cell NF-kappaB activation was significantly greater compared with morning levels following uninterrupted baseline or recovery sleep, in which the response was found in female but not in male subjects.

Conclusions: These results identify NF-kappaB activation as a molecular pathway by which sleep disturbance may influence leukocyte inflammatory gene expression and the risk of inflammation-related disease.

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Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
NF-κB DNA binding in peripheral blood mononuclear cells after baseline, partial night sleep deprivation, and recovery sleep in total sample (A) and in separate groups of females and males (B).
FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
NF-κB DNA binding in peripheral blood mononuclear cells after baseline, partial night sleep deprivation, and recovery sleep in total sample (A) and in separate groups of females and males (B).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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