News in Brief: Sleep loss affects gene activity
Losing zzz?s disrupts daily rhythms at biochemical level
Web edition: February 25, 2013
Losing zzz?s disrupts daily rhythms at biochemical level
By Tina Hesman Saey
Web edition: February 25, 2013
People who don?t get enough sleep tend to experience a wide variety of health problems, but scientists haven?t known why at a molecular level. Now, Derk-Jan Dijk and colleagues at the University of Surrey in England report changes in gene activity in 26 people who had built up a sleep deficit.
For one week the volunteers slept at least eight hours per night. Then, participants were allowed just under six hours of sleep each night for another week. People were sleepy and sluggish after that week, and blood tests showed that the activity of 711 of their genes had changed, the researchers report online February 25 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Among the genes affected by the shift were those that govern the immune system. Some of those genes stopped cycling in a daily, or circadian, pattern. Activity of other genes that don?t usually follow the clock fell into a daily rhythm. The researchers conclude that skimping on sleep can drastically change the body?s daily rhythms and may lead to health problems.
Citations
C. S. M?ller-Levet et al. Effects of insufficient sleep on circadian rhythmicity and expression amplitude of the human blood transcriptome. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. [Go to]
Suggested Reading
T. Hesman Saey. Dying to sleep. Science News Vol. 176, October 24, 2009, p. 28. Available online: [Go to]
T. Hesman Saey. Morning birds buckle under sleep pressure. Science News online. April 23, 2009. Available online: [Go to]
L. Sanders. Out-of-sync days throw heart and metabolism out of whack. Science News Online. March 2, 2009. [Go to]
N. Seppa. Some service members sleep too little. Science News Online, January 31, 2013. [Go to]
N. Seppa. Sleep disruption and glucose processing. Science News. Vol. 173, January 19, 2008, p. 46. Available online: [Go to]
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