Associations of actigraphic sleep parameters with adipokines in older adults in the Baltimore longitudinal study of...

Sleep and adipokines are important regulators of cardiometabolic health, yet their relationship in older adults remains poorly understood. We examined cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of actigraphic sleep parameters with adipokine levels among older adults and explored sex and central obesity as potential moderators.

We studied 350 participants aged ≥60 years (mean = 74.8 ± 8.3 years, 48.9% females, 19.4% black) from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging who completed 6.5 ± 1.1 nights of wrist actigraphy and provided fasting plasma for adipokine measurements. Predictors were total sleep time (TST), sleep onset latency, wake after sleep onset, sleep efficiency, and average wake bout length (AWBL); outcomes were adiponectin and leptin levels.

At baseline, longer AWBL was associated with lower adiponectin (B = -2.02, 95% CI [-3.61, -0.42], p = .013) and leptin (B = -3.14, [-5.25, -1.03], p = .004) in fully adjusted models. Longer TST, modeled continuously, predicted a greater increase in adiponectin levels over time (B = 0.26, [0.081, 0.44], p = .007), and short TST (<6 h) was linked to subsequent decline in adiponectin (B = -0.90, [-1.72, -0.079], p = .038). Sex and central obesity moderated the baseline AWBL-adiponectin associations, which were significant in females (B = -3.92, [-6.25, -1.59], p = .001) and those with lower central obesity (B = -6.98, [-10.43, -3.53], p < .001).

Longer sleep duration and shorter wake bouts are linked to more favorable adipokine profiles in older adults, especially in females and those with lower central obesity. Sleep may exert cardiometabolic effects through adipokines in older adults.