Sleepless night triggers immune response

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Date: September 18, 2006

Contact: Mark Wheeler ( mwheeler@... )

Phone: 310-794-2265



Sleepless Night Triggers Immune System’s Inflammatory Response;

Findings Reveal New Avenue for Fighting Autoimmune Disorders

Researchers at UCLA are the first to show how sleep loss affects the

immune system's inflammatory response and suggest sleep interventions

as a possible way to address problems associated with inflammation

and autoimmune disorders.

Reporting in the Sept. 6 edition of the peer-reviewed journal

Archives of Internal Medicine, the research team finds that even

modest sleep loss triggers cellular and genetic processes involved in

the immune system's inflammatory response to disease and injury.

The findings increase understanding of sleep's role in altering

immune cell physiology and suggest sleep interventions as a possible

way to address inflammation associated with risk of cardiovascular

disease, arthritis, diabetes and other autoimmune disorders.

" This study shows that even a modest loss of sleep for a single night

increases inflammation, which is a key factor in the onset of

cardiovascular disease and autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid

arthritis. " said Dr. Irwin, professor and director of the

Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology at the Semel Institute for

Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA.

About one-third of the people in the United States have trouble

getting a good night's sleep. The problem is more prevalent among

people with chronic inflammatory disorders, including heart disease.

Epidemiology studies link poor sleep with risk of chronic disease in

some people.

Inflammation, with its accompanying redness and swelling, occurs when

the immune system floods a diseased or damaged portion of the body

with infection-fighting white blood cells that promote healing.

However, a variety of immune system disorders can cause the body to

turn on itself, sometimes causing inflammation that can damage

healthy organs and tissues.

The UCLA research team conducted blood and DNA analyses of 30 healthy

adults drawn during the day across three baseline periods and after

partial night sleep deprivation.

The results show white blood cells called monocytes produce

significantly greater amounts of two disease-fighting proteins after

a night of sleep loss, compared with amounts found after a night of

uninterrupted sleep.

The research was supported by the General Clinical Research Centers

Program of the National Institutes of Health and by the Cousins

Center at UCLA.

Study co-authors included Minge Wang, Capella O. Campomayor,

Collado-Hidalgo and Steve Cole, all of the Cousins Center and Semel

Institute at UCLA.

The Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA is an

interdisciplinary research and education institute devoted to the

understanding of complex human behavior, including the genetic,

biological, behavioral and sociocultural underpinnings of normal

behavior, and the causes and consequences of neuropsychiatric

disorders. For more information see http://www.npi.ucla.edu/.

-UCLA-

http://www.newsroom.ucla.edu/page.asp?RelNum=7335