Brief Communication: Sleep Curtailment in Healthy Young Men Is Associated with Decreased Leptin Levels, Elevated Ghrelin Levels, and Increased Hunger and Appetite.
Spiegel, Karine PhD; Tasali, Esra MD; Penev, Plamen MD, PhD; Cauter, Eve Van PhD
[Article] Annals of Internal Medicine. 141(11):846-850, December 7, 2004.

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Background: 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.

Objective: To determine whether partial sleep curtailment, an increasingly prevalent behavior, alters appetite regulation.

Design: Randomized, 2-period, 2-condition crossover clinical study.

Setting: Clinical Research Center, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.

Patients: 12 healthy men (mean age [ /-SD], 22 /- 2 years; mean body mass index [ /-SD], 23.6 /- 2.0 kg/m2).

Measurements: Daytime profiles of plasma leptin and ghrelin levels and subjective ratings of hunger and appetite.

Intervention: 2 days of sleep restriction and 2 days of sleep extension under controlled conditions of caloric intake and physical activity.

Results: 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).

Limitations: The study included only 12 young men and did not measure energy expenditure.

Conclusions: Short sleep duration in young, healthy men is associated with decreased leptin levels, increased ghrelin levels, and increased hunger and appetite.

(C) 2004 American College of Physicians