Postpartum sleep loss and accelerated epigenetic aging.
Level 3 - non-randomized controlled study
Prospective longitudinal observational cohort study
PubMed 33903077 · doi:10.1016/j.sleh.2021.02.002
What was done
In a subset of 33 mothers from the Healthy Babies Before Birth (HB3) study, blood samples were collected at one year postpartum to estimate biological age using multiple epigenetic clocks and markers (IEAA, EEAA, PEAA, GrimAge, DNAmPAI-1, and DNAm telomere length). Sleep duration was categorized at 6 and 12 months postpartum as insufficient (<7 hours per night) or healthy (7+ hours per night). Subjective sleep quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index.
What was found
Maternal sleep duration at 6 months postpartum predicted accelerated biological aging at 12 months for intrinsic epigenetic age acceleration (IEAA: B = 3.0, SE = 1.2, P = .02), phenotypic epigenetic age acceleration (PEAA: B = 7.3, SE = 2.0, P = .002), and shorter DNA methylation telomere length (DNAmTL: B = -0.18, SE = 0.07, P = .01). Sleep duration at 12 months was not predictive of 12-month epigenetic aging, and 6-month sleep duration was not significantly related to other epigenetic indices (all P > .127). Self-reported poor sleep quality at 6 and 12 months showed no significant relationship with epigenetic age.
Why it matters
This study provides preliminary observational evidence that early postpartum sleep deficiency may be associated with measurable changes in epigenetic aging markers in new mothers.
Limits
The sample size was very small (n = 33). Sleep metrics were self-reported rather than objectively measured. The associations were inconsistent across different epigenetic clocks and were observed for sleep duration at 6 months but not at 12 months.
Cited by
- supports Sleep deprivation has been associated with shorter telomeres.