Sleep Disturbance and Metabolic Dysfunction: The Roles of Adipokines

Abstract

Adipokines are a growing group of peptide or protein hormones that play important roles in whole body metabolism and metabolic diseases. Sleep is an integral component of energy metabolism, and sleep disturbance has been implicated in a wide range of metabolic disorders. Accumulating evidence suggests that adipokines may play a role in mediating the close association between sleep disorders and systemic metabolic derangements. In this review, we briefly summarize a group of selected adipokines and their identified function in metabolism. Moreover, we provide a balanced overview of these adipokines and their roles in sleep physiology and sleep disorders from recent human and animal studies. These studies collectively demonstrate that the functions of adipokine in sleep physiology and disorders could be largely twofold: (1) adipokines have multifaceted roles in sleep physiology and sleep disorders, and (2) sleep disturbance can in turn affect adipokine functions that likely contribute to systemic metabolic derangements.

Keywords: adipokine; cardiometabolic disease; metabolic syndrome; obstructive sleep apnea; sleep disorder.

Figure 1

An illustration showing the metabolic and sleep functions of leptin. (A) Leptin activates JAK-STAT pathways to decrease appetite and increase energy expenditure centrally. It also has important functions in reproductive health, glycemic control, and immune regulation. (B) Insufficient sleep and OSA can both influence leptin levels in the serum. Leptin, in turn, can reduce upper airway obstruction in sleep and improve sleep parameters such as sleep structure, quality, and duration. Leptin may also play a role in circadian rhythms. Abbreviations: JAK, Janus kinase; OSA, obstructive sleep apnea; STAT, signal transducer and activator of transcription.

Figure 2

A proposed model of adipokine function in sleep physiology/disorders and metabolic dysfunction. Adipokines have multi-faceted roles in regulating the various aspects of sleep physiology and disorders, which can in turn affect adipokines and their functions, which contribute to systemic metabolic dysfunction.