Eve Van Cauter

University of Chicago | UC · Department of Medicine

Vaccination is a major strategy to control a viral pandemic. Simple behavioral interventions that might boost vaccine responses have yet to be identified. We conducted meta-analyses to summarize the evidence linking the amount of sleep obtained in the days surrounding vaccination to antibody response in healthy adults. Authors of the included studi...

The human circadian system consists of the master clock in the suprachiasmatic nuclei of the hypothalamus as well as in peripheral molecular clocks located in organs throughout the body. This system plays a major role in the temporal organization of biological and physiological processes, such as body temperature, blood pressure, hormone secretion,...

Introduction The importance of diet for health has been recognized for centuries, yet, the focus has mostly been on what someone eats. Recently, however, focus has expanded to include when someone eats. Experimental studies that manipulated timing of food intake demonstrated effects on metabolic function. Most population-based studies have had to r...

Introduction Pathophysiologic responses to viral respiratory challenges such as SARS-CoV-2 may affect sleep duration, quality and concomitant cardiorespiratory function. Unobtrusive and ecologically valid methods to monitor longitudinal sleep metrics may therefore have practical value for surveillance and monitoring of infectious illnesses. We leve...

Objective: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with insulin resistance and has been described as a risk factor for type 2 diabetes. Whether OSA adversely impacts pancreatic islet β-cell function remains unclear. We aimed to investigate the association of OSA and short sleep duration with β-cell function in overweight/obese adults with pred...

The prevalence of prediabetes and diabetes is substantially higher in PCOS women with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) compared to PCOS women without OSA1,2,3. Prior studies, however, did not examine the complex interaction between race and OSA on metabolic function in PCOS. We sought to determine if the impact of OSA on glucose and insulin metabolism...

Patients with adrenal insufficiency (AI), in whom cortisol release is absent, need to be on lifelong replacement therapy. Depending on the modality of glucocorticoid replacement, the resulting 24-h profile of circulating cortisol levels maybe dampened, enhanced, abnormally timed or inconsistent. The 24-h cortisol profile is a major internal synchro...

Context The endocannabinoid (eCB) system partly controls hedonic eating, a major cause of obesity. While some studies suggested an over-activation of the eCB system in obesity, peripheral levels of eCBs across the 24-hr cycle have not been characterized in obese individuals despite the fact that in lean adults, levels of the eCB 2-arachidonoylglyce...

Objective: Poor sleep may increase obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D) risk in youth. We explored whether subjective sleep duration, sleep quality, or risk for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are associated with glycemia, body mass index (BMI), or blood pressure (BP) in overweight/obese youth. Methods: 214 overweight/obese youth 10-19 years of age a...

Circadian rhythmicity is an approximately 24-h cell-autonomous period driven by transcription-translation feedback loops of specific genes, which are referred to as 'circadian clock genes'. In mammals, the central circadian pacemaker, which is located in the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nucleus, controls peripheral circadian clocks. The circadian s...

Objective: Sleep disturbances and circadian misalignment (social jet lag, late chronotype, or shift work) have been associated with worse glycemic control in type 2 diabetes (T2D). Whether these findings apply to adults with prediabetes is yet unexplored. We hypothesized that self-reported short sleep, poor sleep quality, and/or circadian misalign...

Heightened sympathetic neural activity and impaired baroreflex function are known contributors to hypertension and cardiovascular risk. Recent epidemiological studies report an association between chronic insomnia and hypertension. In the present study, we examined sympathetic neural and cardiovascular regulation in clinically diagnosed insomniacs...

Background: Slow-wave activity (SWA) in non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, obtained by spectral analysis of the electroencephalogram, is a marker of the depth or intensity of NREM sleep. Higher levels of SWA are associated with lower arousability during NREM sleep and protect against sleep fragmentation. Multiple studies have documented that SWA...

Eve Van Cauter's name was incorrectly rendered as "Cauter EV" in PubMed. Her name has been corrected to "Van Cauter E". The publisher regrets this error.

Objectives: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is more prevalent in men and is an independent risk factor for type 2 diabetes. We aimed to determine if there are sex differences in the impact of OSA on glucose metabolism in nondiabetic overweight and obese adults. Methods: One hundred and forty-five men and women (age 33.4 ± 0.6, BMI 37.2 ± 0.7, 70.3% b...

Poor sleep may be associated with an increased risk of obesity and T2D in youth. We explored whether subjective sleep duration, sleep quality or risk factors for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are associated with BMI, glycemia or blood pressure (BP) in youth. Between 2013 and 2016, 236 overweight and obese youth (10-19 years old) at risk for or with...

Abnormal sleep and circadian misalignment (e.g., social jetlag, late chronotype, or shift work) have been associated with abnormal glucose metabolism. These associations have not been well established in adults who meet the ADA criteria for prediabetes. We hypothesized that self-reported short sleep, poor sleep quality or circadian misalignment are...

Introduction Increasing epidemiological evidence links insomnia to increased cardiovascular risk. In particular, an increased risk for developing hypertension has been reported in patients with chronic insomnia, although the mechanism remains unclear. In the present study we investigated the 24h profile of arterial blood pressure (BP) and heart rat...

Study Objectives Chronic insomnia affects up to 15% of adults. Recent cross-sectional and prospective epidemiological studies report an association between insomnia and hypertension, including incident hypertension, yet mechanisms underlying the association remain unknown. We hypothesized that subjects with chronic insomnia would have elevated symp...

A large body of epidemiologic evidence has linked insufficient sleep duration and quality to the risk of obesity, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. To address putative causal mechanisms, this review focuses on laboratory interventions involving several nights of experimental sleep restriction, fragmentation or extension and examining metaboli...

Over the past 20 years, a large body of experimental and epidemiologic evidence has linked sleep duration and quality to glucose homeostasis, although the mechanistic pathways remain unclear. The aim of the present study was to determine whether genetic variation influencing both sleep and glucose regulation could underlie their functional relation...

Full text of the book is available at https://www.niddk.nih.gov/about-niddk/strategic-plans-reports/Pages/diabetes-america-3rd-edition.aspx

Evidence suggests that sleep disorders are common in individuals with CKD, but the influence of sleep duration and quality on CKD progression is unknown. We examined the association of habitual sleep duration and quality with CKD progression in 431 Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort (CRIC) Study participants, of whom 48% were women and 50% had diab...

Physiological evidence suggests that sleep modulates kidney function. Our objective was to examine the cross-sectional association between kidney function and objectively-estimated habitual sleep duration, quality and timing in a cohort of patients with mild to moderate chronic kidney disease. This study involved two US clinical centers of the Chro...

Introduction Recent epidemiological studies suggest that insomnia is associated with heightened cardiovascular risk, but underlying physiological mechanisms remain unclear. The present study examined sympathetic neural and cardiovascular regulation in clinically diagnosed insomniacs and controls. Consistent with the hyperarousal theory of insomnia,...

Introduction An individual’s chronotype, or preference in the timing of sleep or food intake, may have metabolic implications. Late chronotype has been associated with higher body mass index (BMI) and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) in adults and greater BMI, portion sizes, and lower HDL cholesterol levels in adolescents. Our objective is to examine the ass...

Study Objectives Severe sleep restriction results in elevated evening cortisol levels. We examined whether this relative hypercortisolism is associated with alterations in the pituitary-adrenocortical response to evening corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) stimulation. Methods Eleven subjects participated in 2 sessions (2 nights of 10h versus 4h...

Objective: To determine whether inpatient sleep duration and efficiency are associated with a greater risk of hyperglycemia in hospitalized patients with and without diabetes. Research design and methods: In this retrospective analysis of a prospective cohort study, medical inpatients ≥50 years of age were interviewed, and their charts were revi...

Studies examining the impact of CPAP treatment on glycaemic control have yielded conflicting results, partly because of insufficient nightly CPAP use. We examined the 24‐hour profiles of glucose, insulin and counter‐regulatory hormones in 12 subjects with type 2 diabetes and OSA before and after 1 week of effective in‐laboratory CPAP therapy over a...

Adrenal glucocorticoids are major modulators of multiple functions, including energy metabolism, stress responses, immunity, and cognition. The endogenous secretion of glucocorticoids is normally characterized by a prominent and robust circadian (around 24 hours) oscillation, with a daily peak around the time of the habitual sleep-wake transition a...

Purpose of review: The purpose of this review is to summarize recent developments linking disturbances of sleep and circadian rhythms to an increased risk for obesity, and to review novel research on potential countermeasures. Recent findings: Effective treatments for obesity are limited, with long-term adherence to lifestyle changes proving dif...

Insufficient sleep and circadian rhythm disturbances have been each associated with adverse cardiovascular outcomes in epidemiological studies, but experimental evidence for a causal link is scarce. The present study compares the impact of circadian misalignment (CM) to circadian alignment (CA) on human autonomic function using a nonrandomized para...

Study objectives: Increasing evidence from laboratory and epidemiologic studies indicates that insufficient sleep may be a risk factor for obesity. Sleep curtailment results in stimulation of hunger and food intake that exceeds the energy cost of extended wakefulness, suggesting the involvement of reward mechanisms. The current study tested the hy...

A workshop was held at the National Institute for Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases with a focus on the impact of sleep and circadian disruption on energy balance and diabetes. The workshop identified a number of key principles for research in this area and a number of specific opportunities. Studies in this area would be facilitated by ac...

Unlabelled: Although the functions of sleep remain to be fully elucidated, it is clear that there are far-reaching effects of its disruption, whether by curtailment for a single night, by a few hours each night over a long period, or by disruption in sleep continuity. Epidemiological and experimental studies of these different forms of sleep disru...

Sleep disturbances [short (<6 h) and long (>8 h) sleeping time, insomnia (initiating or maintaining sleep), obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and abnormal sleep timing] have been associated with increased diabetes risk but the effect size relative to that of traditional risk factors is unknown. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to comp...

To assess objectively measured daytime physical activity and sleep duration and efficiency in hospitalized older adults and explore associations with demographic characteristics and disease severity. Prospective cohort study. University of Chicago Medical Center general medicine wards. Community-dwelling inpatients aged 50 and older (N = 120) MEASU...

Decrements in sleep health, including insufficient sleep duration, irregular timing of sleep, poor sleep quality, and sleep/circadian disorders are wide-spread in modern society and are associated with an array of disease risks and outcomes, including those contributing to health disparities (e.g. cardiovascular disease, obesity and diabetes, psych...

Context: The endocannabinoid (eCB) system is involved in the regulation of food intake and of peripheral metabolism. Although the cross talk between energy metabolism and the circadian system is well documented, little is known about a potential circadian modulation of human eCB activity. Objective: The objective of the study was to define the 2...

Rationale: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with hypertension. Objectives: We aimed to quantify the independent association of OSA during REM sleep with prevalent and incident hypertension. Methods: We included adults enrolled in the longitudinal community-based Wisconsin Sleep Cohort Study with at least 30 minutes of REM sleep obta...

Context: Insufficient sleep is associated with increased cardiometabolic risk. Alterations in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis may underlie this link. Objective: Our objective was to examine the impact of restricted sleep on daytime profiles of ACTH and cortisol concentrations. Methods: Thirteen subjects participated in 2 laboratory session...

We are grateful to Drs. Scarlata and Antonelli-Incalzi (1) for their interest in our recent publication in Diabetes Care (2). We respectfully have to disagree with their statement that our study focused on “how rapid eye movement (REM) sleep deprivation due to obstructive sleep apnea [OSA] affects glycemic control in type 2 diabetes.” Indeed, our s...

Sleep disturbances, including sleep insufficiency and sleep fragmentation, have been linked to abnormal glucose metabolism and increased diabetes risk. Well-controlled laboratory studies have provided insights regarding the underlying mechanisms. Several large prospective studies suggest that these sleep disturbances are associated with an increase...

Shift workers, who are exposed to irregular sleep schedules resulting in sleep deprivation and misalignment of circadian rhythms, have an increased risk of diabetes relative to day workers. In healthy adults, sleep restriction without circadian misalignment promotes insulin resistance.To determine whether the misalignment of circadian rhythms that...

Objective Severity of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has been associated with poorer glycemic control in type 2 diabetes. It is not known whether obstructive events during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep have a different metabolic impact compared to those during non-REM (NREM) sleep. Treatment of OSA is often limited to the first half of the night, w...

Context: Questionnaire studies linked symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) to the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Whether this association is present when OSA is assessed objectively by polysomnography is not known. Objective: The objective of the study was to assess the relationship between pregnancy, OSA, and GDM. Design, se...

OBJECTIVE To examine whether chronotype and daily caloric distribution are associated with glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes independently of sleep disturbances.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Patients with type 2 diabetes had a structured interview and completed questionnaires to collect information on diabetes history and habitual sle...

Objectives: We previously reported that adult patients with GH deficiency (GHD) due to a confirmed or likely pituitary defect, compared with healthy controls individually matched for age, gender, and BMI, have more slow-wave sleep (SWS) and higher delta activity (a marker of SWS intensity). Here, we examined the impact of recombinant human GH (rhG...

This chapter focuses on basic circadian rhythm characteristics, including the sleep-wake and feeding–fasting rhythms, as well as circadian genetics as they pertain to neuroendocrine and endocrine rhythms. A prominent feature of the neuroendocrine system is its high degree of temporal organization. An immense variety of circadian rhythms has been ob...

Chinese translation Insufficient sleep increases the risk for insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and obesity, suggesting that sleep restriction may impair peripheral metabolic pathways. Yet, a direct link between sleep restriction and alterations in molecular metabolic pathways in any peripheral human tissue has not been shown. To determine wheth...

Objectives: Sleep is regulated by circadian and homeostatic processes and is highly organized temporally. Our study was designed to determine whether this organization is preserved in patients receiving mechanical ventilation (MV) and intravenous sedation. Design: Observational study. Setting: Academic medical intensive care unit. Patients:...

In this review, evidence is presented to support the hypothesis that reduced sleep duration may be part of the behavioral modifications that played a role in the development of the current epidemic of obesity and diabetes. An important consideration when trying to explain the epidemiologic link between sleep loss and metabolic risk is that it is no...

Diabet. Med. 28, 1455–1462 (2011) The causes and risk factors of insulin resistance remain insufficiently understood. After taking into account the important roles of adiposity, age, sex and race/ethnicity, up to 50% of the individual variability in insulin resistance remains unexplained. In recent years, evidence has accumulated to support a role...

To explore relationships among sleep disturbances, glucose tolerance, and pregnancy outcomes. Four validated sleep questionnaires were administered to 169 pregnant women at the time of 50-g oral glucose tolerance testing (OGTT) during the second trimester. Pregnancy outcomes were analyzed in 108 women with normal glucose tolerance (NGT). Of the par...

Rates of obesity have been steadily increasing, along with disorders commonly associated with obesity, such as cardiovascular disease and type II diabetes. Simultaneously, average sleep times have progressively decreased. Recently, evidence from both laboratory and epidemiologic studies has suggested that insufficient sleep may stimulate overeating...

To examine whether sleep duration and quality are associated with fasting glucose, fasting insulin, or estimated insulin resistance in a community-based sample of early middle-aged adults. This was an ancillary study to the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study. Habitual sleep duration and fragmentation were estimated from...

The acylation of ghrelin is essential for its stimulatory effects on GH release and appetite. Most of the physiology of ghrelin has been defined based on the assay of total ghrelin (TG), which mainly reflects levels of unacylated ghrelin. Whether levels of acylated ghrelin (AG) are influenced by circadian time and sleep and impact glucose regulatio...

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