Plenary Lecture 1

Impact of Sleep and Sleep Loss on Neuroendocrine and Metabolic Function
Eve Van Cauter^a, Ulf Holmbäck^a, Kristen Knutson^a, Rachel Leproult^a, Annette Miller^a, Arlet Nedeltcheva^a, Silvana Pannain^a, Plamen Penev^a, Esra Tasali^a, Karine Spiegel<sup>b

a</sup>Departments of Medicine and Health Studies, University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill., USA;
^bLaboratory of Physiology, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium

Address of Corresponding Author

Horm Res 2007;67 (Suppl. 1):2-9 (DOI: 10.1159/000097543)

  Key Words

• Ghrelin
• Leptin
• Insulin resistance
• Obesity
• Diabetes

  Abstract

Background: Sleep exerts important modulatory effects on neuroendocrine function and glucose regulation. During the past few decades, sleep curtailment has become a very common behavior in industrialized countries. This trend toward shorter sleep times has occurred over the same time period as the dramatic increases in the prevalence of obesity and diabetes. Aims: This article will review rapidly accumulating laboratory and epidemiologic evidence indicating that chronic partial sleep loss could play a role in the current epidemics of obesity and diabetes. Conclusions: Laboratory studies in healthy young volunteers have shown that experimental sleep restriction is associated with a dysregulation of the neuroendocrine control of appetite consistent with increased hunger and with alterations in parameters of glucose tolerance suggestive of an increased risk of diabetes. Epidemiologic findings in both children and adults are consistent with the laboratory data.

Copyright © 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel

  Author Contacts

Eve Van Cauter, MD
Department of Medicine
University of Chicago, 5841 S. Maryland Ave.
Chicago, IL 60637 (USA)
Tel. +1 773 702 0169, Fax +1 773 702 7686, E-Mail evcauter@medicine.bsd.uchicago.edu

  Article Information

Published online: February 15, 2007
Number of Print Pages : 8
Number of Figures : 3, Number of Tables : 2, Number of References : 40