Sleep Deprivation Leads to Insulin Resistance

A Single Night of Partial Sleep Deprivation Induces Insulin Resistance in Multiple Metabolic Pathways in Healthy Subjects

Esther Donga^*, Marieke van Dijk, J. Gert van Dijk, Nienke R. Biermasz, Gert-Jan Lammers, Klaas W. van Kralingen, Eleonara P. M. Corssmit, and Johannes A. Romijn

This study examined the effect of sleep deprivation on insulin resistance. The volunteers were allowed to sleep either normally (>8hrs) or sleep deprived ( less than 4hrs) and then underwent insulin clamp. The following results were found:

Sleep duration was shorter in the night with sleep restriction than in the unrestricted night (226 ± 11 vs. 454 ± 9 min; P 0.0001). Sleep restriction did not affect basal levels of glucose, nonesterified fatty acids, insulin, or endogenous glucose production. Sleep restriction resulted in increased endogenous glucose production during the hyperinsulinemic clamp study compared to the unrestricted night (4.4 ± 0.3 vs. 3.6 ± 0.2 μmolxkg lean body mass^-1 · min^-1; P = 0.017), indicating hepatic insulin resistance. In addition, sleep restriction decreased the glucose disposal rate during the clamp (32.5 ± 3.6 vs. 40.7 ± 5.1 μmol · kg lean body mass^-1 · min^-1; P = 0009), reflecting decreased peripheral insulin sensitivity. Accordingly, sleep restriction decreased the rate of glucose infusion by approximately 25% (P = 0.001). Sleep restriction increased plasma nonesterified fatty acid levels during the clamp study (68 ± 5 vs. 57 ± 4 μmol/liter; P = 0.005).

What's fascinating is that previous studies have also shown that sleep restriction to only 4 h of sleep during two or more nights reduced glucose tolerance by 40% and reduced the acute insulin response to glucose in healthy subjects by 30%. In this study, there was a trend towards higher cortisol concentrations, but this was not statistically significant. There was a rise in fatty acid concentrations as well.

Great study...don't want to know the results of Q4 call on insulin resistance.