Purpose: Alterations in the level of inflammatory markers due to poor or short sleep may increase the risk of adverse health outcomes such as cardiovascular disease. Methods: C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor- alpha, fibrinogen, intercellular adhesion molecule 1, and white blood cell count were measured using standardized methods in 387 police officers. Sleep data were collected via The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Linear regression models and ANCOVA were used to assess the relationship between levels of inflammatory markers and indicators of sleep quality. Reported means were adjusted for age, race, gender, smoking and alcohol. Results: Mean CRP levels were higher in officers who reported higher sleep latency (2.16mg/l vs. 1.78 mg/l, p= 0.05) and day time dysfunction (2.91 mg/l vs. 1.92 mg/l, p=0.04). Mean IL-6 levels were also higher in officers who reported higher sleep latency (2.15 pg/ml vs. 1.69 pg/ml; p=0.04). Fibrinogen levels were lower in officers with poor overall sleep quality compared to those with good sleep quality (2.90 mg/dl vs. 3.10 mg/dl; p=0.01). No other associations were observed. Conclusion: Mean levels of CRP and IL-6 were independently associated with sleep latency while fibrinogen was found to be associated with poor overall sleep. Further research examining these relationships prospectively may be warranted.
Links with this icon indicate that you are leaving the CDC website.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cannot attest to the accuracy of a non-federal website.
Linking to a non-federal website does not constitute an endorsement by CDC or any of its employees of the sponsors or the information and products presented on the website.
You will be subject to the destination website's privacy policy when you follow the link.
CDC is not responsible for Section 508 compliance (accessibility) on other federal or private website.
For more information on CDC's web notification policies, see Website Disclaimers.
CDC.gov Privacy Settings
We take your privacy seriously. You can review and change the way we collect information below.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance.
Cookies used to make website functionality more relevant to you. These cookies perform functions like remembering presentation options or choices and, in some cases, delivery of web content that based on self-identified area of interests.
Cookies used to track the effectiveness of CDC public health campaigns through clickthrough data.
Cookies used to enable you to share pages and content that you find interesting on CDC.gov through third party social networking and other websites. These cookies may also be used for advertising purposes by these third parties.
Thank you for taking the time to confirm your preferences. If you need to go back and make any changes, you can always do so by going to our Privacy Policy page.