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Changes in serum TSH and free T4 during human sleep restriction
Lynn Kessler1, Arlet Nedeltcheva, Jacqueline Imperial
1Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
Study Objectives:
To examine whether recurrent sleep restriction is accompanied by changes in measures of thyroid function.
Design:
Two-period crossover intervention study.
Setting:
University clinical research center and sleep laboratory.
Participants:
11 healthy volunteers (5F/6M) with a mean (+/- SD) age of 39 +/- 5 y and BMI 26.5 +/- 1.5 kg/m2.
Intervention:
Randomized exposure to 14 days of sedentary living with ad libitum food intake and 5.5- vs. 8.5-h overnight sleep opportunity.
Measurements And Results:
Serum thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and free thyroxine (T4) were measured at the end of each intervention. Partial sleep restriction was accompanied by a modest but statistically significant reduction in TSH and free T4, seen mainly in the female participants of the study.
Conclusions:
Compared to the well-known rise in TSH and thyroid hormone concentrations during acute sleep loss, tests obtained after 14 days of partial sleep restriction did not show a similar activation of the human thyroid axis.
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