Table 2.

Studies linking sleep deprivation to daytime levels of markers of inflammation in humans, as modified from [27].

Type of sleep deprivation	Findings	References
Systemic markers of inflammation
Circadian misalignment over 25 days	Increased levels of TNF and CRP, and of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10	[73]
TSD, 88 hours	Increased levels of TNFR1 at 44 and 66 hours Increased levels of IL-6 at 88 hours No change in TNFR2, sIL-2 R or IL-10 levels Progressive increase in CRP level over 88 hours	[122,125]
TSD, 40 hours	Increased levels of IL-1 and IL-2 Increased level of IL-6 Increased levels of E-selectin, ICAM1, IL-1 and IL-1ra Decreased levels of CRP and IL-6 Increased levels of IL-6 and ICAM1 after a night of recovery sleep No change in the level of IL-6	[83,113–115,130,131]
TSD, 34 hours	Increased level of TNF, but not of TNFR2, IL-6 or CRP	[129]
PSD, over 12 nights	Increased levels of IL-6 and CRP, but not of sTNFR1	[126]
PSD, over 10 nights	Increased level of CRP at day 10	[125]
PSD, over 7 nights	Increased level of IL-6 in both sexes, and increased level of TNF in men, but not women	[127]
PSD, over 5 nights	Increased level of CRP after sleep deprivation and recovery sleep	[125]
PSD, over 2 nights	No change in IL-6 level	[119]
PSD, 1 night	Increased levels of IL-6 and TNF in alcoholics with sleep disturbance, but not controlsIncreased level of L-6 No change in level of CRP No change in level of IL-6	[41,84,118,121]
Sleep fragmentation, over 2 nights	No change in level of CRP or IL-6	[120]
Cellular inflammation
PSD, 1 night	Increase in both TLR4-stimulated and resting production of IL-6 and TNF by monocytes Prolonged daytime increase in TLR4-stimulated production of IL-6 and TNF by monocytes in women, but not men No change in TLR4-stimulated production of IL-6 and TNF by monocytes in older adults >60 years of age	[116,117,132]
Transcriptional measures of inflammation
PSD, over 5 nights	Increased mRNA expression levels of IL-1, IL-6 and IL-17	[128]
PSD, 1 night	Increased mRNA expression levels of IL-6 and TNF	[123]
Inflammatory signaling and transcriptional profiles
PSD, 1 night	Increased inflammatory gene expression profiles owing to activation of AP-1 and NF-κB pathways	[123]
PSD, 1 night	Increased activation of NF-κB in women, but not in men Increased constitutive monocytic expression of activated STAT1 and STAT5 in night following sleep loss	[116,133]

AP-1, activator protein-1; CRP, C-reactive protein; ICAM1, intercellular adhesion molecule 1; IL-1ra, IL-1 receptor antagonist; NF-κB, nuclear factor-κB; PSD, partial sleep deprivation; sIL-2 R, soluble IL-2 receptor; STAT, signal transducer and activator of transcription; TLR4, Toll-like receptor 4; TNF, tumor necrosis factor; TNFR, tumor necrosis factor receptor; TSD, total sleep deprivation.