A new observational study by researchers from Hong Kong demonstrates that disrupted sleep is associated with DNA damage. The findings appear in the journal Anaesthesia.
Sleep deprivation was associated with DNA damage in the new study. Image credit: Arek Socha / Sci-News.com.
University of Hong Kong’s Dr. Siu-Wai Choi and his colleagues from Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital, Queen Mary Hospital and the University of Hong Kong set out to examine the effects of acute sleep deprivation on DNA damage.
The study involved 49 healthy full-time doctors who had their blood analyzed at different time points.
“We conducted the study over a four-month period,” the researchers explained.
“Baseline blood samples were taken on a morning after three consecutive days of self-reported adequate, undisturbed sleep from both groups of participants.”
“Additional blood was sampled from the on-site call group participants on the morning after acute sleep deprivation, which was defined as after an overnight call with participants sleeping less than two sleep cycles (3 hours) during their call.”
Overnight on-site call doctors had lower baseline DNA repair gene expression and more DNA breaks than participants who did not work overnight.
In overnight on-site call participants, after acute sleep deprivation, DNA repair gene expression was decreased and DNA breaks were increased.
“Although this work is very preliminary, it is clear from the results that even a single night of sleep deprivation can trigger events that may contribute to the development of chronic disease,” Dr. Choi said.
“Anesthetists — and other health professionals — frequently work night shifts and on call duties, and their work patterns change frequently between night and day work,” said Professor Andy Klein, the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Anaesthesia.
“This study is important in that it will allow future researchers to study the impact of changing the way we work and other interventions by evaluating DNA breaks in the same way as the authors of this groundbreaking study have done.”
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V. Cheung et al. The effect of sleep deprivation and disruption on DNA damage and health of doctors. Anaesthesia, published online January 23, 2019; doi: 10.1111/anae.14533
