Project Grant F31DK149722

THE EFFECTS OF A SLEEP EXTENSION INTERVENTION ON INSULIN SENSITIVITY IN HABITUAL SHORT SLEEPERS - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT OVER ONE IN THREE AMERICANS REGULARLY SLEEP LESS THAN THE RECOMMENDED 7 HOURS PER NIGHT. ALARMINGLY, ADULTS WHO MAINTAIN HABITUAL SHORT SLEEP DURATIONS (HSSD), SUCH AS MEDICAL AND MILITARY PERSONNEL, EMERGENCY RESPONDERS, SHIFT WORKERS, AND STUDENTS, ARE ~30% MORE LIKELY TO DEVELOP TYPE 2 DIABETES (T2D) VERSUS ADULTS WHO MAINTAIN ADEQUATE SLEEP DURATIONS. FURTHERMORE, DATA SHOW THAT EXPERIMENTALLY IMPOSED SLEEP RESTRICTION CAN IMPAIR INSULIN SENSITIVITY TO LEVELS COMMONLY OBSERVED IN PEOPLE WITH PRE-DIABETES. HOWEVER, IT IS NOT KNOWN IF DATA FROM RIGIDLY CONTROLLED LABORATORY STUDIES OF EXPERIMENTAL SLEEP RESTRICTION TRANSLATES TO PEOPLE WITH REAL-WORLD NATURALISTIC HSSD. FURTHERMORE, NEITHER EXISTING DATA FROM EPIDEMIOLOGICAL NOR LABORATORY- CONTROLLED STUDIES INFORM EFFICACY OF FREE-LIVING SLEEP-BASED INTERVENTIONS TO LOWER DIABETES RISK. TO HELP ADDRESS THIS ISSUE, WE HAVE CONDUCTED PILOT STUDIES DESIGNED TO INVESTIGATE THE POTENTIAL CARDIOMETABOLIC HEALTH BENEFITS OF FREE-LIVING BEHAVIORAL SLEEP EXTENSION INTERVENTIONS. OUR PRELIMINARY DATA SHOW SLEEP EXTENSION IS FEASIBLE BUT LARGER RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS WITH RIGOROUS METABOLIC OUTCOMES ARE NEEDED TO DEFINE THE POTENTIAL HEALTH BENEFITS OF SLEEP EXTENSION. AS SUCH, WE WILL CONDUCT A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL WITH REAL- WORLD SLEEP EXTENSION IN OVERWEIGHT AND OBESE ADULTS WITH HSSD. PARTICIPANTS WILL COMPLETE 1 WEEK OF BASELINE MONITORING AND THEN BE RANDOMIZED TO EITHER SLEEP EXTENSION (TARGET 8 HOURS OF NIGHTLY TIME IN BED) OR HSSD MAINTENANCE FOR 8 WEEKS AT HOME (INTERVENTION SEGMENT). FOLLOWING THE BASELINE AND INTERVENTION SEGMENTS PARTICIPANTS WILL COMPLETE INSULIN SENSITIVITY TESTING (HYPERINSULINEMIC-EUGLYCEMIC CLAMP) AND OVERNIGHT LABORATORY VISITS TO ASSESS CIRCADIAN TIMING (SALIVARY MELATONIN ELISA). AIM 1 WILL DETERMINE THE IMPACT OF SLEEP EXTENSION ON INSULIN SENSITIVITY AND AIM 2 WILL DETERMINE THE IMPACT OF SLEEP EXTENSION ON MORNING CIRCADIAN MISALIGNMENT, A POTENTIAL MECHANISM UNDERLYING IMPAIRED INSULIN SENSITIVITY LINKED TO HSSD. OUR EXPECTED FINDINGS WILL ADVANCE THE FIELD BY QUANTIFYING THE CHANGES IN INSULIN SENSITIVITY FROM A SLEEP EXTENSION INTERVENTION AND INFORMING WHETHER SLEEP EXTENSION HAS THE CAPACITY TO LOWER RISK OF T2D. ADDITIONALLY, THIS F31 WILL PROVIDE ESSENTIAL TRAINING FOR THE PI, INCLUDING: [1] LEARN TO CONDUCT RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS WITH METABOLIC OUTCOMES; [2] CONDUCT ADVANCED ANALYSES IN SLEEP AND CIRCADIAN PHYSIOLOGY; AND [3] LEARN METHODS FOR COLLECTING AND ANALYZING FREE-LIVING DIETARY INTAKE.