TY - JOUR
T1 - Sleep characteristics and inflammatory biomarkers among midlife women
AU - Nowakowski, Sara
AU - Matthews, Karen A.
AU - Von Känel, Roland
AU - Hall, Martica H.
AU - Thurston, Rebecca C.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health, National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (R01HL105647 and K24123565 to R.C.T.) and University of Pittsburgh Clinical and Translational Science Institute (NIH grant UL1TR000005). This work was also supported by National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Nursing Research (K23NR014008 to S.N.).
Publisher Copyright:
© Sleep Research Society 2018. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Sleep Research Society. All rights reserved.
PY - 2018/5/1
Y1 - 2018/5/1
N2 - Study Objectives: Research suggests that sleep disturbances are associated with elevated levels of inflammation. Some evidence indicates that women may be particularly vulnerable; increased levels of inflammatory biomarkers with sleep disturbances are primarily observed among women. Midlife, which encompasses the menopause transition, is typically reported as a time of poor sleep. We tested whether poorer objectively measured sleep characteristics were related to a poorer inflammatory profile in midlife women. Methods: Two hundred ninety-five peri- and postmenopausal women aged 40-60 completed 3 days of wrist actigraphy, physiologic hot flash monitoring, questionnaires (e.g. Berlin sleep apnea risk questionnaire], and a blood draw for the assessment of inflammatory markers, including C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and von Willebrand factor (VWF) antigen. Associations of objective (actigraphy) sleep with inflammatory markers were tested in regression models. Sleep efficiency was inverse log transformed. Covariates included age, race/ ethnicity, education, body mass index, sleep apnea risk, homeostatic model assessment (a measure of insulin resistance), systolic blood pressure, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and physical activity. Results: In separate models controlling for age, race/ethnicity, and education, lower sleep efficiency was associated with higher IL-6 [b(SE) = .02 (.10), p = .003] and VWF [b(SE) = .02 (.08), p = .002]. More minutes awake after sleep onset was associated with higher VWF [b(SE) = .12 (.06), p = .01]. Findings persisted in multivariable models. Conclusions: Lower sleep efficiency and more minutes awake after sleep onset were independently associated with higher circulating levels of VWF. Lower sleep efficiency was associated with higher circulating levels of IL-6. These findings suggest that sleep disturbances are associated with greater circulating inflammation in midlife women.
AB - Study Objectives: Research suggests that sleep disturbances are associated with elevated levels of inflammation. Some evidence indicates that women may be particularly vulnerable; increased levels of inflammatory biomarkers with sleep disturbances are primarily observed among women. Midlife, which encompasses the menopause transition, is typically reported as a time of poor sleep. We tested whether poorer objectively measured sleep characteristics were related to a poorer inflammatory profile in midlife women. Methods: Two hundred ninety-five peri- and postmenopausal women aged 40-60 completed 3 days of wrist actigraphy, physiologic hot flash monitoring, questionnaires (e.g. Berlin sleep apnea risk questionnaire], and a blood draw for the assessment of inflammatory markers, including C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and von Willebrand factor (VWF) antigen. Associations of objective (actigraphy) sleep with inflammatory markers were tested in regression models. Sleep efficiency was inverse log transformed. Covariates included age, race/ ethnicity, education, body mass index, sleep apnea risk, homeostatic model assessment (a measure of insulin resistance), systolic blood pressure, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and physical activity. Results: In separate models controlling for age, race/ethnicity, and education, lower sleep efficiency was associated with higher IL-6 [b(SE) = .02 (.10), p = .003] and VWF [b(SE) = .02 (.08), p = .002]. More minutes awake after sleep onset was associated with higher VWF [b(SE) = .12 (.06), p = .01]. Findings persisted in multivariable models. Conclusions: Lower sleep efficiency and more minutes awake after sleep onset were independently associated with higher circulating levels of VWF. Lower sleep efficiency was associated with higher circulating levels of IL-6. These findings suggest that sleep disturbances are associated with greater circulating inflammation in midlife women.
KW - actigraphy
KW - inflammation
KW - menopause
KW - sleep
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U2 - 10.1093/sleep/zsy049
DO - 10.1093/sleep/zsy049
M3 - Article
C2 - 29617910
AN - SCOPUS:85047219519
SN - 0161-8105
VL - 41
JO - Sleep
JF - Sleep
IS - 5
M1 - 049
ER -