ABSTRACT
Sleep is essential for our health. Short sleep is known to increase disease risks via imbalance of intestinal microbiota, dysbiosis. However, mechanisms by which short sleep induces dysbiosis remain unknown. Small intestinal Paneth cell regulates the intestinal microbiota by secreting antimicrobial peptides including α-defensin, human defensin 5 (HD5). Disruption of circadian rhythm mediating sleep-wake cycle induces Paneth cell failure. We aim to clarify effects of short sleep on HD5 secretion and the intestinal microbiota. Fecal samples and self-reported sleep time were obtained from 35 healthy middle-aged Japanese (41 to 60-year-old). Shorter sleep time was associated with lower fecal HD5 concentration (r = 0.354, p = 0.037), lower centered log ratio (CLR)-transformed abundance of short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) producers in the intestinal microbiota such as [Ruminococcus] gnavus group (r = 0.504, p = 0.002) and Butyricicoccus (r = 0.484, p = 0.003), and lower fecal SCFA concentration. Furthermore, fecal HD5 positively correlated with the abundance of these genera and SCFA concentration. These findings suggest that short sleep relates to disturbance of the intestinal microbiota via decreased HD5 secretion.
Author contribution
Conceptualization: YS, TA, AT, and Kiminori N. Data curation: YS, RY, YY, SU, Koshi N, EO, AI, TN, AT, and Kiminori N. Formal analysis: YS, YY, and Kiminori N. Funding acquisition: TA, AT, and Kiminori N. Investigation: YS and Kiminori N. Methodology: YS and Kiminori N. Project administration: AT and Kiminori N. Resources: YS and Kiminori N. Supervision: TA and Kiminori N. Validation: YS and Kiminori N. Visualization: YS and Kiminori N. Writing-original draft: YS. Writing-review & editing: TA, AT, and Kiminori N. All authors read, revised, and approved the final draft.
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge all volunteers who participated in our study, municipal government officers of Suttu town, staff members of Suttu municipal clinic, and other people who cooperated with the DOSANCO Health Study. The authors also acknowledge experimental supports from Ms. Aiko Kuroishi.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Data availability statement
The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author, Kiminori N. The data are not publicly available due to their containing information that could compromise the privacy of research participants.
Ethics approval
This study was approved by the Ethical Committee of the Faculty of Medicine (15–002, 15–045), Hokkaido University. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants.