Associations Between Accelerometer-Assessed Sleep Patterns, Proteomic Signatures, and Hallmarks of Aging in Adulthood

The associations between objectively measured sleep patterns, the hallmarks of aging, and their shared proteomic signatures remain poorly understood. In this study, we utilized wrist-worn accelerometer data, plasma proteomic profiles, and health records from the UK Biobank to examine the associations between six defined sleep patterns and nine established hallmarks of aging. We further identified proteins jointly associated with both sleep patterns and aging hallmarks. Longer total sleep duration, greater deep sleep, and increased rapid eye movement (REM) sleep were associated with lower risk of most aging hallmarks. In contrast, higher wakefulness after sleep onset (WASO) and greater sleep irregularity were associated with higher risk, whereas light sleep showed no significant associations. The number of overlapping proteins varied substantially across sleep-hallmark associations, ranging from 1 to 558. These proteins were predominantly enriched in immune and inflammatory pathways. Several proteins, including IL1RN, FABP1, GDF15, and LEP, were consistently observed across multiple sleep patterns and aging hallmarks. These findings may help generate hypotheses about shared underlying biological processes between sleep and the aging process.