Poster #37 - A Pilot Study of Objective and Subjective Sleep Assessments and Inflammation in Pregnant Puerto Ricans

• In Event: Poster Session 05

Abstract

Background: Getting adequate sleep is important for the functioning of our immune system, and this may be especially critical for the pregnant person and developing fetus during gestation. However, prior literature has been inconsistent in the ways in which prenatal sleep health has been examined, including both reports of perceived sleep quality and actigraphy assessments. Furthermore, research is limited in that Latinx populations are underrepresented. Importantly, Puerto Ricans are rarely included in studies when it has been found that they are significantly having poorer sleep than other people of Hispanic/Latinx descents in the U.S. (Dudley et al., 2017). Therefore, the present study aimed to examine associations among subjective and objective assessments of prenatal sleep health and salivary markers of prenatal maternal inflammation. Understanding how the different sleep measures associate with prenatal inflammation will inform on appropriate targets for intervention.

Methods: This exploratory pilot study collected data on sleep health and inflammation from pregnant Puerto Rican women (Mage = 29.3; SDage = 2.54) part of the Boricua Youth Study. Thus far, objective sleep has been assessed through 7-day actigraphy collections in 14 participants, and subjective sleep was assessed through the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index self-report (PSQI) in 43 participants. Salivary samples collected via passive drool were analyzed for inflammatory biomarkers, specifically those commonly linked to neurodevelopment and chronic diseases (van der Burg et al., 2015): CRP, IL-1B, IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-alpha. We examined associations between self-reported and actigraphy-derived measures of sleep health and inflammatory markers. All analyses were controlled for maternal pre-pregnancy age and BMI.

Results: Self-reported sleep duration was associated with higher levels of IL-1B (p = 0.0497). Self-reported sleep quality was associated with IL-6 levels, such that poorer sleep quality was associated with greater IL-6 levels (p = 0.0361). Finally, greater sleep efficiency (portion of time spent asleep while in bed, as measured via actigraphy) was marginally associated with lower levels of IL-8 (p = 0.0528). No associations were detected between actigraphy-measured sleep duration and inflammation.

Discussion: Our findings suggest that subjective reports of sleep health and actigraphy-derived measures during the prenatal period may be differentially related to peripheral inflammation. Few studies have compared objective and subjective reports of sleep in the perinatal period, obfuscating comparisons within studies. These initial findings suggest that objective sleep duration may not be the most relevant measure of sleep health during the perinatal period to inflammatory outcomes, but that the quality (as reported by women or as assessed via actigraphy) and perceived length of sleep may be more closely related to inflammation. Nonetheless, these pilot results should be considered preliminary, and in the next months, the sample sizes will be expanded. Future research should examine the determinants of poor sleep quality in pregnancy.

Authors

• Jaimie Lee, New York State Psychiatric Institute
  Presenting Author

• Alice Aizza, Columbia University Medical Center/New York State Psychiatric Institute

• Tonima Rahman

• Catherine Monk, Columbia University Irving Medical Center

• Glorisa Canino, University of Puerto Rico, Medical School

• Jonathan Posner, Columbia University

• Cristiane Duarte, New York State Psychiatric Institute

• Claudia I Lugo-Candelas, Columbia University