When healthy adults sleep only four hours per night for five nights, their blood shows higher levels of eosinophils, basophils, and CD4/CD8 T-cell ratio compared to when they sleep normally.
Mechanism
Synthesis from 1 study
Lack of sleep triggers a chemical signal called prostaglandin that tells the body to release more eosinophils and basophils into the blood. It also shifts the balance between two types of immune cells, increasing CD4 cells and decreasing CD8 cells. This is why these specific immune markers rise...
Most probable mechanism
When sleep is reduced to four hours a night for five nights, the body releases more inflammatory signals that cause bone marrow to release more eosinophils and basophils into the blood. At the same time, the balance between two types of immune cells shifts: more CD4 cells are activated while CD8 cells are suppressed, raising their ratio. This happens because a key inflammatory molecule called prostaglandin increases and directly influences how these immune cells behave.
Sleep restriction activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and sympathetic nervous system, increasing circulating levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines including IL-6 and GM-CSF
Elevated IL-6 and other cytokines stimulate cyclooxygenase (COX) enzyme activity in monocytes and other immune cells, increasing synthesis of prostaglandin E2
Prostaglandin E2 promotes chemotaxis and mobilization of eosinophils and basophils from bone marrow into peripheral circulation
Prostaglandin E2 enhances differentiation and activation of CD4+ T-helper cells while suppressing cytotoxic CD8+ T-cell function and proliferation
The combined effect of increased eosinophil and basophil mobilization and skewed CD4+/CD8+ T-cell balance results in elevated counts of these cells in peripheral blood
Evidence from Studies
Supporting (1)
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The Effect of Low-Dose Acetylsalicylic Acid on Cellular Immune Responses to Experimental Sleep Restriction in Healthy Humans
Contradicting (0)
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