DiabetesJan 25, 2014

Misaligned body clock increases signs of insulin resistance and inflammation, even without sleep loss

Circadian Biology Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗OA ↗

Updated Apr 1, 2026

Abstract

In male participants, circadian misalignment resulted in a doubling of the decrease in and increase in inflammation compared to those with regular bedtimes.

Shift workers experience irregular sleep schedules, leading to misalignment of circadian rhythms and increased diabetes risk.
Sleep restriction for both aligned and misaligned conditions resulted in a significant decrease in insulin sensitivity.
Inflammation levels increased in both groups after sleep restriction.
Circadian misalignment is associated with greater metabolic disruptions, independent of the amount of sleep loss.

Simplified

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 typically occurs in shift work involves intrinsic adverse metabolic effects independently of sleep loss, a parallel group design was used to study 26 healthy adults. Both interventions involved 3 inpatient days with 10-h bedtimes, followed by 8 inpatient days of sleep restriction to 5 h with fixed nocturnal bedtimes (circadian alignment) or with bedtimes delayed by 8.5 h on 4 of the 8 days (circadian misalignment). Daily total sleep time (SD) during the intervention was nearly identical in the aligned and misaligned conditions (4 h 48 min [5 min] vs. 4 h 45 min [6 min]). In both groups, (SI) significantly decreased after sleep restriction, without a compensatory increase in insulin secretion, and inflammation increased. In male participants exposed to circadian misalignment, the reduction in SI and the increase in inflammation both doubled compared with those who maintained regular nocturnal bedtimes. Circadian misalignment that occurs in shift work may increase diabetes risk and inflammation, independently of sleep loss.

Key numbers

−47%

Decrease in

Percentage change in after sleep restriction in the misaligned group.

146%

Increase in Levels

Percentage increase in levels in the misaligned group after sleep restriction.

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Misaligned body clock increases signs of insulin resistance and inflammation, even without sleep loss

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