Does the Microbiota Affect Sleep or Is Sleep Affected by the Microbiota? A narrative review
Does the Microbiota Affect Sleep or Is Sleep Affected by the Microbiota? A narrative review
Maryam jafari,1,*
1. Student research committee, Anzali International Medical Campus, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Guilan, Iran
Introduction: Microbiota play an important role indubitable. The microorganisms that naturally inhabit the gut establish a symbiotic relationship with the host. Microbiota not only affects digestion of food but also in many researches are known as a crucial factor that plays a role bi-directionally in the metabolic, immune, and neural systems of the host, modulating the physiological and pathological function of many other organs and pathological function of other organs. In another hand, sleep also can influence multi factors like inflammation condition and loss of metabolic health as mentioned above. This study aims to investigate the role of gut microbiota as a factor in sleep disturbances.
Methods: The present review was conducted through the electrical scientific databases including PubMed, Scopus, and Scholar by searching with the keywords including "sleep", "gut-microbiota" and "microbiome" from 2014 to 2023 in English.
Results: The cross-sectional studies revealed similar findings regarding the relationship between sleep disturbance and gut microbial diversity. Among older adults, shorter sleep duration was linked to an increase in pro-inflammatory bacteria, while improved sleep quality was associated with a rise in beneficial Verrucomicrobia and Lentisphaerae phyla. However, in young adults, the impact of sleep disruption on the composition of the gut microbiome, particularly the ratio of beneficial Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes phyla, remains inconsistent and not fully understood. Some studies have shown that sleep deprivation in healthy individuals can change the gut microbiota even in a short period. The ratio of Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes is elevated, accompanied by an increased presence of Coriobacteriaceae and Erysipelotrichaceae families, while the Tenericutes families show a decrease. However, it should be noted that prolongation in the period of sleep deprivation can activate an adaptive response. Additionally, studies exploring the effect of chronic sleep fragmentation (SF) on gut microbiota support the hypothesis that sleep disturbance affects the gut microbiota, but the frequency of microbiota changes was reversed after 2 weeks compared to the initial changes. Transplantation of microbiota in mice yielded similar results, indicating metabolic alterations as consequences of sleep problems. Besides the effect of sleep on gut microbiota, changes in gut microbiota or the use of prebiotics and probiotics can also affect sleep rhythm, such as an increase in non-REM sleep. Interestingly, in mice or individual that treated with antibiotics reported sleep emerge. Gaining a deeper understanding of this issue has the potential to offer novel therapeutic approaches for addressing various diseases. the cyclic nature of this relationship should not be neglected.
Conclusion: The relationship between gut microbiota and sleep is two-way. Previous studies suggest that low-quality of sleep and sleep disorder can change gut microbiota and also bacterial ratios in the gut can affect sleep quality. The possibility of utilizing treatments focused on restoring the gut microbiota holds promise in reducing the adverse effects of conditions like sleep apnea and mitigating their associated complications.