Impaired glucose tolerance in sleep disorders

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 5; no. 3; p. e9444
• Main Authors: Keckeis, Marietta, Lattova, Zuzana, Maurovich-Horvat, Eszter, Beitinger, Pierre A, Birkmann, Steffen, Lauer, Christoph J, Wetter, Thomas C, Wilde-Frenz, Johanna, Pollmächer, Thomas
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 01.03.2010; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Apnea; Arousal; Blood Glucose - metabolism; Carbohydrate Metabolism; Carbohydrates; Cardiovascular disease; Case-Control Studies; Cholesterol; Comparative analysis; Comparative studies; Diabetes; Diabetes and Endocrinology; Disorders; Epidemiology; Fasting; Female; Glucose; Glucose - metabolism; Glucose tolerance; Glucose Tolerance Test; Glycemic index; Glycosylated hemoglobin; Health aspects; Hemoglobin; Homeostasis; Humans; Hypertension; Insomnia; Insulin resistance; Legs; Male; Medical research; Mental health; Metabolic disorders; Metabolism; Middle Aged; Neurological Disorders/Movement Disorders; Neuroscience/Behavioral Neuroscience; Obesity; Odds Ratio; Patients; Physiological aspects; Psychiatry; Restless legs syndrome; Sleep; Sleep apnea; Sleep disorders; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders - metabolism; Sleep Wake Disorders - metabolism; Suffering; Time Factors; Type 2 diabetes; Germany
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0009444

Recent epidemiological and experimental data suggest a negative influence of shortened or disturbed night sleep on glucose tolerance. Due to the high prevalence of sleep disorders this might be a major health issue. However, no comparative studies of carbohydrate metabolism have been conducted in clinical sleep disorders. We performed oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTT) and assessed additional parameters of carbohydrate metabolism in patients suffering from obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS, N = 25), restless legs syndrome (RLS, N = 18) or primary insomnia (N = 21), and in healthy controls (N = 33). Compared to controls, increased rates of impaired glucose tolerance were found in OSAS (OR: 4.9) and RLS (OR: 4.7) patients, but not in primary insomnia patients (OR: 1.6). In addition, HbA1c values were significantly increased in the same two patient groups. Significant positive correlations were found between 2-h plasma glucose values measured during the OGTT and the apnea-arousal-index in OSAS (r = 0.56; p<0.05) and the periodic leg movement-arousal-index in RLS (r = 0.56, p<0.05), respectively. Sleep duration and other quantitative aspects of sleep were similar between patient groups. Our findings suggest that some, but not all sleep disorders considerably compromise glucose metabolism. Repeated arousals during sleep might be a pivotal causative factor deserving further experimental investigations to reveal potential novel targets for the prevention of metabolic diseases.