INFLUENCE OF GUT MICROBIOME-HOST INTERACTIONS ON STRESS INDUCED BY ALTERED
SLEEP PATTERNS.
EMSL Project ID
48739
Abstract
The proposed research will address how altered sleep cycles, such as that experienced in a submarine environment, impacts the gut microbiome (GM) with important implications towards the long-term goal of enhancing warfighter resilience. The submarine is a unique human environment that poses several types of physiological and mental stresses, including sunlight deprivation, reduced access to fresh food and weight bearing exercise and hypercarbia (abnormally high levels of carbon dioxide in blood). In addition, due to the requirement for submarine navigation, submariners have atypical sleep schedules, consisting of 3 watch sections, each 6 hours in duration. As a result submariners have an 18-hour wake/sleep cycle that contrasts with the normal 24-hour wake/sleep cycle. This results in a desynchronization of the normal circadian rhythm and chronic sleep deprivation that can in turn impact health and performance. Examples of deleterious health impacts include gastrointestinal illness, coronary artery disease, depression and reduced memory, motorfunction, alertness and cognitive performance. Sleep and circadian rhythm disruptions are also associated with a higher risk of diabetes and obesity. Specific physiological consequences of circadian rhythm desynchronization include decreased leptin levels, increased plasma glucose levels, changes in cortisol levels, increased blood pressure and reduced sleep efficiency. However, much remains to be known about how changes of circadian rhythms typical of that occurring on a submarine can impact the gut microbiome (GM) and subsequently influence host health and warfighter resilience. The GM is critical to investigate because increasing evidence has shown that the GM has an important influence on the health and wellbeing of the host. Examples of positive functions of the gut microbiome include aid in digestion, resistance to pathogens and protection of the gut epithelial barrier. When the normal gut microbiota is compromised, for example due to inflammation, some of these beneficial functions can be jeopardized with serious consequences to health of the host. Recent research has also highlighted the interaction between the GM and the brain, through the Gut- Brain-Axis. The proposed research will address the hypothesis that stress experienced by submariners due to a disrupted circadian rhythm, is intimately associated with functions carried out by the GM, and that by gaining an understanding of specific members of the gut microbiota, metabolites they produce and signals between the gut and the brain, we will be better able to devise strategies, such as probiotics or dietary changes, to mitigate the deleterious psychological and physiological symptoms experienced by the host. The proposed research would address the ONR 341 report that concluded a need for research on effects of naval-relevant external stressors on host resilience that was not funded at the time. In particular there was a call for study of the molecular mechanisms of external stressors through consideration of the role of the gut microbiome.
Project Details
Start Date
2015-01-16
End Date
2017-09-30
Status
Closed
Released Data Link
Team
Principal Investigator
Team Members
Related Publications
Kim Y., A.M. Snijders, C.J. Brislawn, K.G. Stratton, E.M. Zink, S.J. Fansler, and T.O. Metz, et al. 2019. "Light-stress influences the composition of the murine gut microbiome, memory function, and plasma metabolome." Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences 6. PNNL-SA-144001. doi:10.3389/fmolb.2019.00108