A study reveals that people suffering from fatty liver disease have significant fragmentation of their sleep, due to frequent awakenings and an increased period of wakefulness.
- A study shows that people who suffer from fatty liver disease wake up 55% more often at night than others.
- Their nighttime waking period is also longer.
- The researchers concluded that there was a link between sleep fragmentation and pathology.
If you have restless nights with frequent awakenings and increased periods of wakefulness, be careful! This could be a sign of a silent liver disease: metabolic fatty liver disease.
This is what a study by researchers at the University of Basel published in the journal Frontiers in Network Physiology.
Fatty liver disease: numerous nocturnal awakenings in patients
To check whether disruptions to the circadian clock and sleep cycle could promote the development of this pathology commonly called fatty liver disease, the team recruited 46 adult women and men who suffered from it. Eight other patients with cirrhosis unrelated to metabolic fatty liver served as comparison. There was also a control group of 16 healthy volunteers. They all wore a device monitoring their activities as well as their body temperature for 4 weeks. They also all answered questionnaires about their sleeping habits and were asked to keep a diary during the experiment.
Measurements from the device revealed no differences between fatty liver disease patients and healthy participants on sleep duration or time spent in bed. On the other hand, volunteers with metabolic fatty liver had more restless nights. They woke up 55% more often and stayed awake 113% longer.
Patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) also slept more frequently and longer during the day. Their perceived sleep quality was also impaired: 32% of MASLD patients reported having sleep problems caused by stress compared to only 6% of healthy participants.
“We concluded from our data that sleep fragmentation plays a role in the pathogenesis of human metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease. It is unclear whether MASLD causes sleep disturbances or vice versa,” explains Dr Sofia Schaeffer, corresponding author of the study, in a press release.
“The underlying mechanism likely involves genetics, environmental factors and activation of immune responses – ultimately through obesity and metabolic syndrome,” adds the expert.
MASLD: courses to sleep well in therapy?
The team wanted to know if better sleep could improve the symptoms of fatty liver disease and its consequences. She therefore offered a sleep hygiene education session. The experience was not conclusive.
“A single session of sleep hygiene education was not enough to have a lasting impact on circadian rhythm in patients with MASLD or healthy controls. Future studies should explore follow-up sessions of sleep hygiene counseling sleep or interventions such as light therapy in combination with other lifestyle changes to improve the sleep-wake cycle in patients with MASLD.”concludes Dr Christine Bernsmeier, lead author of the study.
