SLEEP - Changes in Serum TSH and Free T4 during Human Sleep Restriction

VOLUME 33, ISSUE 08

SHORT NOTE
Changes in Serum TSH and Free T4 during Human Sleep Restriction

Lynn Kessler, MD¹; Arlet Nedeltcheva, MD¹; Jacqueline Imperial, BS²; Plamen D. Penev, MD, PhD¹

¹Department of Medicine and ²General Clinical Resource Center, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL

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Study Objectives: To examine whether recurrent sleep restriction is accompanied by changes in measures of thyroid function.
Design: Two-period crossover intervention study.
Setting: University clinical research center and sleep laboratory.
Participants: 11 healthy volunteers (5F/6M) with a mean (± SD) age of 39 ± 5 y and BMI 26.5 ± 1.5 kg/m².
Intervention: Randomized exposure to 14 days of sedentary living with ad libitum food intake and 5.5- vs. 8.5-h overnight sleep opportunity.
Measurements and Results: Serum thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and free thyroxine (T4) were measured at the end of each intervention. Partial sleep restriction was accompanied by a modest but statistically significant reduction in TSH and free T4, seen mainly in the female participants of the study.
Conclusions: Compared to the well-known rise in TSH and thyroid hormone concentrations during acute sleep loss, tests obtained after 14 days of partial sleep restriction did not show a similar activation of the human thyroid axis.
Keywords: Short sleep duration, sleep deprivation, thyroid hormone, 24-hour profile

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