Skip to main content
Article
Gut Microbiome Diversity Is Associated with Sleep Physiology in Humans
PLoS One
  • Robert Smith, Nova Southeastern University
  • Cole Easson, Nova Southeastern University; Middle Tennessee State University
  • Sarah M. Lyle, Nova Southeastern University
  • Ritishka Kapoor, Nova Southeastern University
  • Chase P Donnelly, Nova Southeastern University
  • Eileen Davidson, Nova Southeastern University
  • Esha Parikh, Nova Southeastern University
  • Jose Lopez, Nova Southeastern University
  • Jaime L. Tartar, Nova Southeastern University
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
10-7-2019
Keywords
  • Sleep,
  • Microbiome,
  • Shannon index,
  • Simpson index,
  • Interaction networks,
  • Cytokines,
  • Immune physiology
Disciplines
Abstract

The human gut microbiome can influence health through the brain-gut-microbiome axis. Growing evidence suggests that the gut microbiome can influence sleep quality. Previous studies that have examined sleep deprivation and the human gut microbiome have yielded conflicting results. A recent study found that sleep deprivation leads to changes in gut microbiome composition while a different study found that sleep deprivation does not lead to changes in gut microbiome. Accordingly, the relationship between sleep physiology and the gut microbiome remains unclear. To address this uncertainty, we used actigraphy to quantify sleep measures coupled with gut microbiome sampling to determine how the gut microbiome correlates with various measures of sleep physiology. We measured immune system biomarkers and carried out a neurobehavioral assessment as these variables might modify the relationship between sleep and gut microbiome composition. We found that total microbiome diversity was positively correlated with increased sleep efficiency and total sleep time, and was negatively correlated with wake after sleep onset. We found positive correlations between total microbiome diversity and interleukin-6, a cytokine previously noted for its effects on sleep. Analysis of microbiome composition revealed that within phyla richness of Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes were positively correlated with sleep efficiency, interleukin-6 concentrations and abstract thinking. Finally, we found that several taxa (Lachnospiraceae, Corynebacterium, and Blautia) were negatively correlated with sleep measures. Our findings initiate linkages between gut microbiome composition, sleep physiology, the immune system and cognition. They may lead to mechanisms to improve sleep through the manipulation of the gut microbiome.

Comments

©2019 Smith et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Additional Comments
NSU Presidents Faculty Research and Development grant #: 335411
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
ORCID ID
0000-0002-1637-4125
ResearcherID
F-8809-2011
DOI
10.1371/journal. pone.0222394
Citation Information
Robert Smith, Cole Easson, Sarah M. Lyle, Ritishka Kapoor, et al.. "Gut Microbiome Diversity Is Associated with Sleep Physiology in Humans" PLoS One Vol. 14 Iss. 10 (2019) p. e0222394 ISSN: 1932-6203
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/jose-lopez/253/