Association between Sleeping Patterns and Mealtime with Gut Microbiome: A Pilot Study

Disruptions in sleep related to mealtime may contribute to gut microbial imbalances, and put individuals at higher risk for metabolic diseases. The aim of this pilot study was to investigate the relationships between late-night eating habits and sleep quality and duration, with gut microbiota (GM) profiles.

In this cross-sectional study, 36 men referred to a clinic were enrolled. In addition to demographic information, each participant completed questionnaires regarding medical history, physical activity, late-night eating habits, sleep quality and sleep duration. The scores from these questionnaires were used to categorize study participants into the following groups: sleep quality (good or poor), late-night eating (yes or no) and sleep duration (<7 or ≥7 hours). Five grams of stool was also obtained from each participant for GM profiling analysis by sequencing.

The mean age of the study population was 42.1 ± 1.6 years. Firmicutes and Actinobacteria were the two dominant phyla present in all participant samples. Differences in the relative abundance of GM at each taxonomic rank between study groups were insignificant. Only Erysipelotrichales at the order level were found to be significantly different between individuals who had late-night eating habits and those who did not (P & q < 0.05). No other parameter demonstrated a significant difference in GM profiles of participants.

In this pilot study, we found Erysipelotrichales to be more abundant in individuals with late-night eating habits. Studies with higher sample sizes are warranted to better delineate the possible effects of time of eating on microbial composition.