Characterization of circulating leptin-receptor levels following acute sleep restriction: A pilot study on healthy adult females

Background: Insufficient sleep adversely affects energy homeostasis by decreasing leptin levels. The underlying physiological mechanisms; however, remain unclear. Circulating leptin is well described to be regulated by its soluble receptor (sOB-R). Intriguingly, the impact of short sleep duration on sOB-R levels has never been characterized. Aim: In this study, we investigated, for the first time, the variation of sOB-R levels and its temporal relationship with circulating leptin upon acute sleep restriction. Methods: Five adult females were maintained on an 8-hour sleep schedule (bedtime at 00:00) for 1 week before restricting their sleep to 4.5 h (bedtime at 03:30) on 2 consecutive nights. Balanced meals were scheduled to specific hours and sleep was objectively measured. Four-hour blood samples were regularly collected during waking hours between 08:00 and 00:00. Results: Sleep restriction resulted in lower leptin (20.9 +/- 1.7 vs 25.7 +/- 1.7 ng/ml) and higher sOB-R concentrations (24.4 +/- 1.2 vs 19.8 +/- 1.6 ng/ml). Neither the discordant temporal relationship nor the pattern of leptin and sOB-R were altered in response to sleep restriction. Conclusion: Our results suggest that sleep restriction may modulate circulating leptin levels and possibly metabolism via upregulating its soluble receptor. This observation may have valuable therapeutic implications when considering sOB-R as a potential target during the management of metabolic disturbances.