Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Jan 5;13(1):213.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-27463-0.

Severe, short-term sleep restriction reduces gut microbiota community richness but does not alter intestinal permeability in healthy young men

J Philip Karl  1 , Claire C Whitney  2 , Marques A Wilson  2 , Heather S Fagnant  2 , Patrick N Radcliffe  2   3 , Nabarun Chakraborty  4 , Ross Campbell  5 , Allison Hoke  4 , Aarti Gautam  4 , Rasha Hammamieh  4 , Tracey J Smith  2
Affiliations

Severe, short-term sleep restriction reduces gut microbiota community richness but does not alter intestinal permeability in healthy young men

J Philip Karl et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Sleep restriction alters gut microbiota composition and intestinal barrier function in rodents, but whether similar effects occur in humans is unclear. This study aimed to determine the effects of severe, short-term sleep restriction on gut microbiota composition and intestinal permeability in healthy adults. Fecal microbiota composition, measured by 16S rRNA sequencing, and intestinal permeability were measured in 19 healthy men (mean ± SD; BMI 24.4 ± 2.3 kg/m2, 20 ± 2 years) undergoing three consecutive nights of adequate sleep (AS; 7-9 h sleep/night) and restricted sleep (SR; 2 h sleep/night) in random order with controlled diet and physical activity. α-diversity measured by amplicon sequencing variant (ASV) richness was 21% lower during SR compared to AS (P = 0.03), but α-diversity measured by Shannon and Simpson indexes did not differ between conditions. Relative abundance of a single ASV within the family Ruminococcaceae was the only differentially abundant taxon (q = 0.20). No between-condition differences in intestinal permeability or β-diversity were observed. Findings indicated that severe, short-term sleep restriction reduced richness of the gut microbiota but otherwise minimally impacted community composition and did not affect intestinal permeability in healthy young men.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Study design. Randomized, crossover study in which participants completed three consecutive nights of adequate sleep (AS) or sleep restriction (SR). Stool sample collection began after waking on day 3 and continued until a sample was collected. Intestinal permeability (IP) measurements were conducted over 5 h on the morning of day 4.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Serum markers of stress and inflammation following three consecutive nights of adequate sleep (AS) or sleep restriction (SR). (a) Serum cortisol, Mean ± SD shown. (b) High sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP; log10-transformed for analysis). Median and interquartile range shown. (a,b) Within-condition comparisons analyzed by paired t tests. Between-condition comparisons analyzed by mixed model ANOVA. n = 19.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Intestinal permeability measured by urinary excretion of sugar substitutes following three consecutive nights of adequate sleep (AS) or sleep restriction (SR). Five-hour urinary excretion of (a) lactulose and (b) mannitol expressed as percent of dose administered. (c) Lactulose:mannitol ratio. (a–c) Mixed model ANOVA; all data log10-transformed for analysis. Median and interquartile range shown. n = 17.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Gut microbiota composition following three consecutive nights of adequate sleep (AS) or sleep restriction (SR). (a) Principal coordinates analysis of Bray–Curtis dissimilarities (PERMANOVA, P = 1.0). (b–d) Between-condition differences in α-diversity analysed by mixed model ANOVA. Mean ± SD shown. (e) Differential abundance analyses of phyla, genera and amplicon sequencing variants (ASVs) by Microbiome Multivariable Associations with Linear Models identified ASV_Firmicutes.Clostridia.Clostridiales.Ruminococcaceae as the only differentially abundant taxon (P ≤ 0.05; q ≤ 0.20). Median and interquartile range shown. n = 19.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Han M, Yuan S, Zhang J. The interplay between sleep and gut microbiota. Brain Res. Bull. 2022;180:131–146. doi: 10.1016/j.brainresbull.2021.12.016. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Matenchuk BA, Mandhane PJ, Kozyrskyj AL. Sleep, circadian rhythm, and gut microbiota. Sleep Med. Rev. 2020;53:101340. doi: 10.1016/j.smrv.2020.101340. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Everson CA, et al. Cell injury and repair resulting from sleep loss and sleep recovery in laboratory rats. Sleep. 2014;37:1929–1940. doi: 10.5665/sleep.4244. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Everson CA, Toth LA. Systemic bacterial invasion induced by sleep deprivation. Am. J. Physiol. Regul. Integr. Comp. Physiol. 2000;278:R905–916. doi: 10.1152/ajpregu.2000.278.4.R905. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Triplett J, et al. Temporal and region-specific effects of sleep fragmentation on gut microbiota and intestinal morphology in Sprague Dawley rats. Gut Microbes. 2020;11:706–720. doi: 10.1080/19490976.2019.1701352. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

Substances