Repeated Challenge of Insufficient Sleep: Endothelial Effects

Completed · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Repeated Short Sleep Schedule

In brief

The 24-hour-a-day, 7-day a week, work-world arrived within our lifetimes, and is here to stay. Americans are working more and more, frequently at multiple jobs. The pattern of short sleep during the week followed by attempts to recover on the weekend is in common practice, but we know little of the associated health risks. What is the cost in terms of increasing known risk markers for cardiovascular disease, of repeated nights of insufficient sleep, and is this cost compounded with repetition, without adequate recovery? Evidence is accumulating to suggest that short sleep duration is linked to the development of metabolic and inflammation-associated diseases, such as cardiovascular disease. Mechanisms involved in the development of cardiovascular disease include impaired vascular function and inflammation. The current proposal is designed to investigate the effects of repeated periods of short nocturnal sleep duration in 4 cycles (each cycle consisting of 3 nights of 4 hours of sleep opportunity per night), and each cycle of short sleep followed by a single night of recovery sleep. Vascular reactivity will be assessed using brachial artery flow mediated dilation, and microcirculatory vasodilation will be assessed using perfusion imaging techniques. The dependence of IL-6 and sVCAM-1 as measured in peripheral circulation, on vascular function, will also be investigated.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT01523535

Run by

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

People needed

168

Starts

2011-08-01

Expected to finish

2014-09-01

Last updated by the study team

2020-10-22

Who can join

Age: 25 and older, up to 55. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Healthy volunteers
• Regular sleep-wake schedule

You may not qualify if…

• Diseases or medical conditions, including sleep disorders
• Current smoking
• Pregnant or nursing
• Recent time zone travel or shift work
• Regular medication use
• High blood pressure

Where it is running

• Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center — Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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