Inflammatory Activity With IBD Tied to Impaired Sleep

WEDNESDAY, July 9, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Impaired sleep is associated with inflammatory activity in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), but not symptoms, according to a study published online June 26 in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

Robert P. Hirten, M.D., from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, and colleagues used wearable devices to objectively assess the impact of inflammation and symptoms on sleep architecture in an observational study of adult patients with IBD. Inflammation was assessed via measurement of C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and fecal calprotectin, and symptoms were assessed via patient-reported outcome surveys. The analysis included 101 participants aged 18 years and older with a mean duration of 228.16 nights of wearable data.

The researchers found that periods with active inflammation were associated with a significantly smaller percentage of sleep time in rapid eye movement and a greater percentage of sleep time in light sleep. Altered sleep architecture was only seen when inflammation was present, but not symptoms. The rate of change in the percentage of time spent in deep and light sleep differed significantly before and after inflammatory and symptomatic flares.

“Our findings are crucial because they suggest that poor sleep may be related to active inflammatory disease, even when patients are not reporting symptoms,” Hirten said in a statement. “This approach opens new possibilities for how wearable devices can monitor health events and track sleep in chronic diseases.”

Several authors disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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