Melatonin helps balance daily gut bacteria rhythms disrupted by sleep loss in mice

Chronic sleep loss disrupts the pattern of colonic microbial communities and reduces the proportion of gut microbiota with a circadian rhythm.

• Sleep restriction alters the normal circadian rhythm of intestinal microbiota.
• Reduction in gut microbiota with a circadian rhythm is observed following chronic sleep loss.
• Exogenous melatonin supplementation restores the proportion of gut microbiota with a circadian rhythm.
• Melatonin also increases the activity of metabolic pathways that follow a circadian rhythm.
• Certain families of gut bacteria, specifically Muribaculaceae and Lachnospiraceae, are sensitive to sleep restriction and can be rescued by melatonin.

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