The effect of acute sleep deprivation on skeletal muscle protein synthesis and the hormonal environment

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Sleep loss has profound, negative consequences on human tissues including skeletal muscle. Animal and human models suggest that acute and chronic sleep loss may directly impair muscle protein metabolism, which is critical to maintain muscle mass and function over the lifespan. This study aimed at providing a proof-of-concept that sleep deprivation acutely decreases muscle protein synthesis in humans. To this end, thirteen young males and females experienced one night of total sleep deprivation or slept normally at home. Anabolic and catabolic hormonal profiles, muscle fractional synthesis rate and markers of muscle protein degradation were assessed across the following day. In the sleep-deprived condition, cortisol release was 21% higher over a six-hour period (<jats:italic>p=0</jats:italic>.<jats:italic>030</jats:italic>). One night of complete sleep deprivation was however not sufficient to elicit significant changes in testosterone release (<jats:italic>p=0</jats:italic>.<jats:italic>090</jats:italic>) and muscle protein synthesis rates (<jats:italic>p=0</jats:italic>.<jats:italic>081</jats:italic>). Apparent sex-specific differences prompt the need for further dedicated investigations into the specific effects of total sleep deprivation on muscle protein metabolism in males and females.</jats:p>

No time to sleep on it – start exercising!

“…A recent pre‐print by our group (Lamon et al . 2020) confirms the findings of Saner et al . (2020) and provides further proof‐of‐concept that one night of total sleep deprivation is sufficient to decrease MyoPS in healthy, young males.…”

“…Sleep restriction alters testosterone secretion patterns, and our recent study suggests that reduced testosterone might constitute a mechanism underlying the sleep restriction‐induced decrease in muscle protein synthesis in males (Lamon et al . 2020). If sustained sleep restriction leads to skeletal muscle atrophy over time, it is essential not only to understand the mechanisms by which this occurs, but also how we can blunt this effect.…”

Disruption of Circadian Transcriptome in Lung by Acute Sleep Deprivation

“…Although chronic sleep restriction has been proved to show profound impacts on transcription regulation in many peripheral tissues including the liver and adipose tissue ( Barclay et al, 2012 ; Husse et al, 2012 ), acute sleep deprivation has also been demonstrated to raise risk of developing acute sleep loss-associated adverse outcomes in several peripheral tissues such as adipose tissue ( Wilms et al, 2019 ), and skeletal muscle ( Lamon et al, 2021 ). The RNA-seq data from adipose tissue revealed that acute sleep loss could up-regulate oxidative phosphorylation- and ribosome-related signaling pathways ( Cedernaes et al, 2018 ).…”

“…The RNA-seq data from adipose tissue revealed that acute sleep loss could up-regulate oxidative phosphorylation- and ribosome-related signaling pathways ( Cedernaes et al, 2018 ). Lamon et al (2021) showed that acute sleep deprivation blunted the muscle protein synthesis that affected the muscle protein turnover in skeletal muscle tissue. Taken together, these studies, as well as our current study, indicated that acute sleep deprivation affected gene expression in a tissue-specific manner by targeting different signaling and biological pathways.…”

The interactive effect of sustained sleep restriction and resistance exercise on skeletal muscle transcriptomics in young females

“…Sleep deprivation (i.e. 24 h wakefulness) (6) and sleep restriction (i.e. shortened sleep duration) (7) blunt skeletal muscle protein synthesis in young males, yet the mechanisms by which this occurs remain equivocal.…”