Can poor sleep affect skin integrity?

Abstract

Modern society has reported a decline in sleep time in the recent decades. This reduction can increase the morbidity and mortality of several diseases and leads to an immunosuppressive state. The skin is the largest organ in the human body and collagen, its main component, has a key role in the structure and integrity of the organism. The entire sequence of events necessary during collagen formation can be affected by endogenous and exogenous factors. A variety of studies in the literature have shown that sleep plays a role in restoring immune system function and that changes in the immune response may affect collagen production. Several studies of prolonged sleep deprivation suggest a break in skin barrier function and mucous membranes. In fact, the reduction of sleep time affects the composition and integrity of various systems. Thus, we hypothesized that lack of sleep as well as other types of stress can impair skin integrity.

The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on the Biophysical Properties of Facial Skin

“…Multiple negative effects of sleep deprivation on the immune system, metabolism, and the skin have been reported [12]- [22] [24]…”

“…Studies reporting skin measurement results have shown that sleep deprivation can exacerbate several skin disorders [12]- [19]. Sleep deprivation increases activation of the sympathetic nervous system and activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, leading to increased glucocorticoid secretion [14] [15] [20].…”

“…Sleep deprivation increases activation of the sympathetic nervous system and activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, leading to increased glucocorticoid secretion [14] [15] [20]. Increased production of glucocorticoids, which may affect the integrity of the lamellar bodies, impairs the integrity of the skin barrier [12] [16] [17] [18] [21]. Furthermore, a study in humans has revealed that 42 hours of acute sleep deprivation led to increased production of inflammatory cytokines including plasma interleukin-1β and tumor necrosis factor-α, increased natural killer cell activity, and decreased skin barrier function recovery [18].…”

“…Furthermore, a study in humans has revealed that 42 hours of acute sleep deprivation led to increased production of inflammatory cytokines including plasma interleukin-1β and tumor necrosis factor-α, increased natural killer cell activity, and decreased skin barrier function recovery [18]. Deregulation of the immune system also impairs the integrity of collagen fibers [12] [18] [22]. These alterations might be related to various skin physiological properties, and it gives us clues that measuring the changed skin biophysical properties caused by sleep deprivation would be meaningful.…”

Skin Aging Remedies in Traditional Persian Medicine

“…Also Modern medicine believes that circadian rhythm of the body would be affected by insomnia, and ultimately skin collagen integrity would be disrupted gradually (52,53).…”