Brief Communication: Sleep Curtailment in Healthy Young Men Is Associated with Decreased Leptin Levels, Elevated Ghrelin Levels, and Increased Hunger and Appetite

Top Cited Papers
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Total sleep deprivation in rodents and in humans has been associated with hyperphagia. Over the past 40 years, self-reported sleep duration in the United States has decreased by almost 2 hours. To determine whether partial sleep curtailment, an increasingly prevalent behavior, alters appetite regulation. Randomized, 2-period, 2-condition crossover clinical study. Clinical Research Center, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois. 12 healthy men (mean age [±SD], 22 ± 2 years; mean body mass index [±SD], 23.6 ± 2.0 kg/m2). Daytime profiles of plasma leptin and ghrelin levels and subjective ratings of hunger and appetite. 2 days of sleep restriction and 2 days of sleep extension under controlled conditions of caloric intake and physical activity. Sleep restriction was associated with average reductions in the anorexigenic hormone leptin (decrease, 18%; P = 0.04), elevations in the orexigenic factor ghrelin (increase, 28%; P < 0.04), and increased hunger (increase, 24%; P < 0.01) and appetite (increase, 23%; P = 0.01), especially for calorie-dense foods with high carbohydrate content (increase, 33% to 45%; P = 0.02). The study included only 12 young men and did not measure energy expenditure. Short sleep duration in young, healthy men is associated with decreased leptin levels, increased ghrelin levels, and increased hunger and appetite.