Wearable-derived short sleep duration is associated with higher C-reactive protein in a placebo-controlled vaccine trial among young adults

Inadequate sleep has been associated with an increased risk of mortality and various health issues. We previously conducted a placebo-controlled vaccination trial of healthy adults who were monitored by blood samples, questionnaires, and wearable devices. C-reactive protein (CRP), a systemic marker of inflammation, has been linked to numerous health outcomes, and was found to significantly increase post-vaccination in the trial. In this retrospective study, we investigated that if sleep was associated with an inflammation response triggered by perturbations from vaccine and placebo injections. Plasma hs-CRP levels were measured on the same day as the intervention, prior to the vaccine/placebo administration and two days after the intervention. Associations of sleep duration and CRP levels after vaccine/placebo administration in 188 trial participants were investigated by regression models adjusting for age, sex, body mass index (BMI), comorbidities, vaccination status (vaccination or placebo), and averaged daily steps. We found that shorter wearable-derived Total Sleep Time (TST) and Total Time in Bed (TIB), as well as subjectively assessed sleep duration from the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), were independently associated with higher incidence of CRP elevation after vaccine/placebo administration. Our study suggests that sleep deprivation could be a predictor for an increased inflammatory response and highlights a potential application of wearable-derived sleep metrics in public health.