The role of PGC-1 and Apoε4 in insomnia

Insomnia is associated with certain psychiatric illnesses such as anxiety disorder and depressive disorder. Moreover, sleep is controlled by endogenous circadian genes, which are associated with peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator-1α (PGC-1α). In addition, apolipoprotein ε4 (Apoε4), which plays an important role in lipid metabolism, may be also associated with some mental disorders related to insomnia. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of PGC-1α in insomnia among different mental disorder groups under the control of Apoε4 and other psychosocial factors.

A total of 202 patients with insomnia and 253 controls were recruited.

Logistic regression and structural equation modeling showed similar results in that with sex and age controlled, major depressive disorder, PGC-1α and Apoε4 increased the risk of insomnia. With the factors of sex, age, major depressive disorder, and Apoε4 controlled, PGC-1α still increased the risk for insomnia, showing that the GG allele of PGC-1α may play an important role in insomnia.

In the future, when treating those with insomnia and high lipid profiles, health education with regard to how to control their lipid profile maybe used.