A study set to be presented at the SLEEP 2024 annual meeting has revealed that low-dose acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) can reduce inflammatory responses triggered by sleep restriction. The research showed that, compared to a placebo, preemptive administration of low-dose aspirin during periods of sleep restriction significantly lowered pro-inflammatory markers. Specifically, aspirin reduced interleukin-6 expression, COX-1/COX-2 double positive cells in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated monocytes, and C-reactive protein serum levels.
Lead author Larissa Engert, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in the department of neurology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and the division of sleep medicine at Harvard Medical School, highlighted the innovative aspect of the study. She stated that the research explored whether pharmacological intervention could mitigate the inflammatory effects of sleep restriction, using a non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory drug known to influence specific inflammatory pathways previously shown to be disrupted by sleep disturbances.
The study involved 46 healthy adults in a randomized placebo-controlled crossover trial with three protocols: sleep restriction/aspirin, sleep restriction/placebo, and control sleep/placebo. Each protocol included a 14-day at-home phase followed by an 11-day in-hospital stay. During the sleep restriction/aspirin phase, participants took low-dose aspirin throughout both the at-home and in-hospital phases. The in-hospital phase began with two nights of eight-hour sleep opportunities. Under sleep restriction conditions, participants experienced five nights of four-hour sleep opportunities followed by three nights of recovery sleep. The control condition allowed for eight-hour sleep opportunities throughout the in-hospital phase. Sleep and immunologic measures were recorded at baseline and various points during the study.
Engert noted that aspirin’s reduction of inflammatory pathway activity in sleep-restricted participants was accompanied by decreased wake time after sleep onset and increased sleep efficiency during recovery sleep.
As reported by Medical Dialogues, these findings suggest that preemptive low-dose aspirin can blunt inflammatory pathways activated by sleep restriction. Engert pointed out that this discovery could lead to the development of new therapeutics targeting these pathways without the adverse effects associated with aspirin, such as bleeding and stroke. These new treatments could complement behavioral sleep improvement therapies to better prevent or manage inflammation in individuals experiencing sleep deficiency.