Effects of acute sleep loss on leptin, ghrelin, and adiponectin in adults with healthy weight and obesity: A laboratory study.

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Sleep deprivation may shift the balance of appetite controlling hormones causing an increase in hunger and decreased satiety and therefore resulting in increased food intake. These changes may be more pronounced in biological females.

Introduction

Sleep deprivation may contribute to weight gain and obesity through its effect on the hormonal pathways promoting hunger and satiety. Research has also linked chronic sleep loss with an increase in the brain reward response to food, thus driving an increase in daily food intake. Leptin and ghrelin are hormones involved in the control of food intake. Some research has associated alterations in these hormones following sleep loss, whilst others have not.

This study aimed to investigate whether biological sex and weight status affect fasting serum levels of leptin, ghrelin and adiponectin following chronic sleep deprivation in a supervised laboratory setting.

Methods

This randomised crossover design study included n=44 mixed sex participants with a mean age of 24.9 years. A total of 19 of the participants were classed as obese, with the remaining n= 25 participants were considered normal weight. Participants completed 2 nights in experimental sessions under continuously supervised conditions in a laboratory. One night was spent awake and the other asleep. Fasting blood samples were taken the morning after each session to measure levels of leptin, ghrelin and adiponectin.

Results

Serum levels of leptin after one night’s sleep loss were around 7% lower than those measured after sleep (17.3 = +/-2.6 vs 18.6 +/- 2.8 ng/mL, p = 0.037). Adjustments using sex-stratified analysis showed significantly lower levels of serum leptin in women (25.8 +/_4.3 vs 28.1 +/_ 4.7 ng/mL, p = 0.030) but not for men (10.1 +/_ 2.4 vs 10.6 +/_ 2.3 ng/mL, p = 0.458). However, when comparing individual participant differences between sleep and wake sessions, the results were not significant. Additionally, no significant differences were found between normal weight and obese participants.

Higher levels of ghrelin were found following sleep deprivation in both sexes and weight sub-groups (839.4 +/-77.5 vs 741.4+/-63.2 pg/mL, p= 0.003). Adiponectin was also found to be elevated in all participants regardless of biological sex or weight status (7.5 +/- 0.6 vs 6.8 +/- 0.6ug/mL, p= 0.003). However, ghrelin was observed to increase slightly more in participants with obesity, whereas elevations in adiponectin were slightly greater in those of normal weight.

Conclusion

In this study, sleep loss was associated with lowered levels of leptin and higher levels of ghrelin. Analysis between biological sexes indicated that there may be a greater decrease in leptin in females. Serum levels of adiponectin were also found to be elevated after sleep deprivation for both sexes with a slightly larger increase in women. These changes may result in increased hunger and food intake and decreased satiety. No significant differences were found between normal weight and obese participants.

Notes: The authors reported no conflicts of interest.

Sleep deprivation may lead to lower levels of leptin in both sexes with a greater decrease for females. Ghrelin and adiponectin levels may be increased in both men and women after sleep loss with a slightly larger increase in adiponectin for women. This could lead to an increase in appetite, food consumption and therefore weight gain, particularly in women.

• Larger studies are needed to investigate sex and weight status related differences in serum levels of ghrelin, leptin and adiponectin.
• It may be beneficial for blood samples to be taken at different points during the day to allow for fluctuations in hormone levels.
• Food intake should be measured to monitor any increases in food intake.