Pronounced inflammatory response to endotoxaemia during nighttime:a randomised cross-over trial

Circadian variation in bodily functions has been shown to impact health in acute and chronic medical conditions. Little is known about the relationship between circadian rhythm and sepsis in humans. We aimed to investigate circadian variations in the host response in a human endotoxaemia model.A cross-over study, where 12 healthy young men received E. coli endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide, LPS) 0.3 ng/kg at 12 noon and, on another day, at 12 midnight. Blood samples were analysed for pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines: tumour-necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, soluble TNF receptors (sTNF-R)-1 and -2, interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra), IL-6, and IL-10 as well as YKL-40 and the oxidative stress markers malondialdehyde (MDA), ascorbic acid (AA) and dehydroascorbic acid (DHA) before and at 2, 4, 6 and 8 hours after LPS administration.The levels of MDA and IL-10 where significantly higher during the day time (P<0.05) whereas levels of TNF-alpha, sTNF-RI, sTNF-RII, IL-1Ra, IL-6, and YKL-40 were higher (P<0.01 for all comparisons) during the night time. No significant differences were seen in the levels of AA and DHA.A day-night difference in the acute phase response to endotoxaemia exists in healthy volunteers with a more pronounced inflammatory response during the night time. This circadian difference in the response to endotoxaemia may play an important role in the clinical setting and should be investigated further

Rapid eye movement-sleep is reduced in patients with acute uncomplicated diverticulitis—an observational study

Introduction. Sleep disturbances are commonly found in patients in the postoperative period. Sleep disturbances may give rise to several complications including cardiopulmonary instability, transient cognitive dysfunction and prolonged convalescence. Many factors including host inflammatory responses are believed to cause postoperative sleep disturbances, as inflammatory responses can alter sleep architecture through cytokine-brain interactions. Our aim was to investigate alteration of sleep architecture during acute infection and its relationships to inflammation and clinical symptoms.Materials & Methods. In this observational study, we included patients with acute uncomplicated diverticulitis as a model to investigate the isolated effects of inflammatory responses on sleep. Eleven patients completed the study. Patients were admitted and treated with antibiotics for two nights, during which study endpoints were measured by polysomnography recordings, self-reported discomfort scores and blood samples of cytokines. One month later, the patients, who now were in complete remission, were readmitted and the endpoints were re-measured (the baseline values).Results. Total sleep time was reduced 4% and 7% the first (p = 0.006) and second (p = 0.014) nights of diverticulitis, compared to baseline, respectively. The rapid eye movement sleep was reduced 33% the first night (p = 0.016), compared to baseline. Moreover, plasma IL-6 levels were correlated to non-rapid eye movement sleep, rapid eye movement sleep and fatigue.Conclusion. Total sleep time and rapid eye movement sleep were reduced during nights with active diverticulitis and correlated with markers of inflammation