Research is now underway in DeSouza’s lab to determine whether restoring healthy sleep habits can restore healthy levels of microRNAs.
“However, it is plausible that people need at least seven hours of sleep per night to maintain levels of important physiological regulators, such as microRNAs.” “Why seven or eight hours seems to be the magic number is unclear,” said DeSouza. They found that people with insufficient sleep had 40 to 60 percent lower circulating levels of miR-125A, miR-126, and miR-146a, (previously shown to suppress inflammatory proteins) than those who slept enough. They measured expression of nine microRNAs previously associated with inflammation, immune function or vascular health. Half slept seven to 8.5 hours nightly half slept five to 6.8 hours nightly. “They are like cellular brakes, so if beneficial microRNAs are lacking that can have a big impact on the health of the cell,” said DeSouza.įor the new study, which is the first to explore the impact of insufficient sleep on circulating microRNA signatures, DeSouza and his team took blood samples from 24 healthy men and women, age 44 to 62, who had filled out questionnaires about their sleep habits. The exact function of circulating microRNAs in the cardiovascular system, and their impact on cardiovascular health is receiving alot of scientific attention, and drugs are currently in development for a variety of diseases, including cancer, to correct impaired microRNA signatures. MicroRNAs are small molecules that suppress gene expression of certain proteins in cells. In another recent study, DeSouza’s group found that adult men who sleep six hours per night have dysfunctional endothelial cells-the cells that line blood vessels-and their arteries don’t dilate and constrict as well as those who get sufficient sleep.īut the underlying factors leading to this dysfunction aren’t well known.
Overall, the average American’s sleep duration has plummeted from nine hours nightly to 6.8 hours nightly over the past century. “This study proposes a new potential mechanism through which sleep influences heart health and overall physiology,” said senior author Christopher DeSouza, a professor of Integrative Physiology.ĭespite recommendations by the American Heart Association that people get seven to nine hours of sleep each night, about 40% of adults in the United States fall short. The findings could potentially lead to new, non-invasive tests for sleep deprived patients concerned about their health, the authors said. It found that people who sleep fewer than seven hours per night have lower blood levels of three physiological regulators, or microRNAs, which influence gene expression and play a key role in maintaining vascular health. In recent years, numerous studies have shown that people who don’t get enough sleep are at greater risk of stroke and heart attack.Ī new CU Boulder study, published in the journal Experimental Physiology, helps explain why.
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