Sleep quality as a health and aging marker in sedentary middle-aged adults. The FIT-AGEING study

Résumé

Current lifestyle choices—mainly characterized by novel technological and sociocultural rhythms—have led to altered sleep patterns which are related to an increased morbidity and mortality risk. The prevalence of sleep disorders in the general population has substantially increased in the last decade, becoming on an economic and clinical burden for the health system. Thereby, given that sleep is vital for restoration and preservation of multiple physiological systems, the development of both generalized and personalized sleep promotion strategies to encourage a healthy sleep pattern results crucial in order to avoid significant public health burdens. Thus, the role of sleep on health and aging-related markers needs to be deeply studied. The main aim of this International Doctoral Thesis is to study the association of both subjective (measured by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index questionnaire) and objective (assessed by accelerometry) sleep quantity and quality with health and aging-related markers (i.e., body composition, energy metabolism, cardiometabolic risk, hematological parameters, SKlotho anti-aging protein, and physical activity and fitness) in sedentary middle-aged adults. The results show that a poor subjective sleep quality is associated with an altered body composition status (i.e., decreased bone mineral density and lean mass, and increased fat mass), energy metabolism (i.e., lower basal fat oxidation), cardiometabolic risk profile (i.e., worse plasma lipid profile), hematological parameters (i.e., impaired hemostasis), S-Klotho anti-aging protein levels (i.e., decreased S-Klotho plasma levels), and physical activity and fitness (i.e., lower levels of overall physical activity, maximal oxygen uptake and muscular strength), all of them widely considered as aging biomarkers, in sedentary middle-aged adults. Interestingly, our results show that a poor objective sleep quantity is specifically associated with some altered cardiometabolic risk factors (i.e., greater waist circumference and higher levels of plasma glucose), and increased levels of sedentariness in sedentary middle-aged adults. In summary, the results of this International Doctoral Thesis suggest that sleep plays a key role on diverse health and aging-related markers such as body composition, energy metabolism, cardiometabolic risk, hematological parameters, S-Klotho anti-aging protein, sedentariness, and physical activity and fitness. Thus, these findings suggest that sleep may be a modifiable risk factor of chronic diseases and the aging process.