Glymphatic Function Alterations in Sleep Disorder Patients Post-COVID-19: A Longitudinal DTI-ALPS Study
Ying-Lan Tang1, Hao-Bo Chen1, Peng Liu1
1Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Hunan Normal University (Hunan Provincial People's Hospital), Changsha, Hunan, People's Republic of China.
Nature and Science of Sleep
|June 23, 2025
Summary
Post-COVID sleep problems are linked to impaired glymphatic system function. Improved sleep quality in COVID-19 survivors correlated with better glymphatic clearance, as measured by DTI-ALPS.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Sleep Medicine
- Radiology
Background:
- Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has been associated with widespread sleep disturbances.
- The relationship between post-COVID sleep issues and the brain's glymphatic system function is not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between sleep quality and glymphatic system function in individuals experiencing sleep disorders after COVID-19.
- To assess changes in glymphatic function over time in relation to sleep quality recovery.
Main Methods:
- Recruited participants with and without post-COVID sleep disorders.
- Assessed sleep quality using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI).
- Utilized brain MRI with diffusion-tensor imaging (DTI) to compute the DTI-analysis along the perivascular space (DTI-ALPS) index.
Main Results:
- Lower baseline DTI-ALPS indices were observed in participants with post-COVID sleep disorders compared to controls.
- Poorer sleep quality (higher PSQI scores) was negatively correlated with DTI-ALPS indices.
- Follow-up assessments showed an increase in DTI-ALPS and a decrease in PSQI, indicating partial recovery.
Conclusions:
- Impaired glymphatic clearance is significantly associated with poorer sleep quality in individuals with post-COVID sleep problems.
- Sleep quality improvement in post-COVID patients parallels the restoration of glymphatic function as indicated by DTI-ALPS indices.
Keywords:
COVID-19DTI-ALPSPittsburgh sleep quality indexdiffusion-tensor imagingglymphatic systemsleep qualityMore Related Videos
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