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Sleep Like Your Immune System Depends On It — Because It Does
If you’ve ever skimped on sleep and woken up feeling groggy and under the weather, science may have an explanation.
A new study published in The Journal of Immunology, reveals that even a single night of lost sleep can throw your immune system into disarray. The findings suggest that sleep deprivation alters immune cell profiles, increasing inflammation and mimicking the immune state of obesity.
In other words, if you’re burning the midnight oil too often, your immune defenses might be taking a hit.
The sleep-inflammation connection
We already know that chronic poor sleep is linked to obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. However, the mechanisms behind these links are still being uncovered. This study dives deep into the immune system, examining how sleep quality affects inflammation levels independent of body weight.
Researchers tracked the sleep patterns of 237 healthy individuals using wearables and analyzed their immune cell composition. The results were striking: participants with poorer sleep quality had elevated levels of nonclassical monocytes (NCMs), a type of immune cell that plays a role in inflammation.
Obese individuals, who already tend to have a higher inflammatory state, also had an excess of these cells, but the researchers found that sleep deprivation alone could cause similar immune disturbances.
Monocytes: The immune system’s watchdogs
Monocytes are a crucial part of our immune system, patrolling the bloodstream and responding to infections. They can be divided into three subclasses:
- Classical monocytes: First responders that engulf pathogens and trigger immune responses.
- Intermediate monocytes: Key players in inflammation and antigen presentation.
- Nonclassical monocytes: Specialized in scanning blood vessels and producing inflammatory signals.
The study found that sleep deprivation led to an increase in NCMs, the most inflammatory monocyte subtype. These cells are associated with conditions like cardiovascular disease and chronic inflammation, suggesting that poor sleep can create an immune imbalance long before disease symptoms appear.
One sleepless night = A pro-inflammatory shift
To test the direct effects of sleep loss, researchers conducted a controlled sleep deprivation experiment. After just one night of staying awake for 24 hours, participants exhibited a significant spike in NCMs—mimicking the immune profile of individuals with obesity.
The good news? This inflammatory response was reversible. Once participants resumed normal sleep, their immune cell levels returned to baseline.
How does sleep loss trigger inflammation?
The researchers propose a few mechanisms:
- Sympathetic nervous system overdrive: Sleep deprivation activates the fight-or-flight response, increasing heart rate, blood pressure, and stress hormones, which can disrupt immune function.
- Vascular stress: Lack of sleep prevents normal blood vessel relaxation, triggering an immune response in vessel walls and promoting systemic inflammation.
- Hormonal disruption: Chronic sleep loss interferes with the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis1, leading to increased cortisol levels that can dysregulate immune function.
The takeaway
Your immune system thrives when you prioritize sleep. Just like diet and exercise, sleep is a crucial pillar of health that regulates inflammation and supports overall well-being.
Whether you’re looking to prevent chronic disease, boost recovery, or simply wake up feeling your best, hitting the hay is one of the best things you can do for your immune health.