Branched-chain amino acids and sleep: a population-derived study of Australian children aged 11-12 years and their parents.
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Cross-sectional observational study
PubMed 36815545 · doi:10.1111/jsr.13855
What was done
This cross-sectional study examined data from the Australian Child Health CheckPoint study to determine associations between branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) and actigraphy-derived sleep duration, timing, efficiency, and self-reported trouble sleeping. Complete-case analysis was conducted for 741 children aged 11–12 years (51% female) and 941 parents (87% mothers) using linear mixed models adjusted for geographic clustering.
What was found
In fully adjusted models, higher BCAA levels were significantly associated with shorter sleep duration, delayed sleep timing, and more frequent reports of trouble sleeping in children. No significant associations were observed in adults. The abstract does not provide specific numerical effect sizes, test statistics, or p-values.
Why it matters
Because BCAAs compete with tryptophan for blood-brain barrier transport, these findings suggest a potential metabolic link to sleep disruption in early adolescence, which may not extend to adults.
Limits
The cross-sectional design cannot establish causality. No exact numerical estimates are reported in the abstract. The parent sample was heavily skewed toward mothers (87%), limiting generalizability to adult males.
Cited by
- supports Outside of traumatic brain injury, high doses of branched-chain amino acids may impair sleep by competing with tryptophan for uptake into the brain, potentially reducing serotonin and melatonin synthesis.