Sleep patterns, genetic predisposition, and risk of chronic liver disease: A prospective study of 408,560 UK Biobank participants

During a median 12.5 years of follow-up, 10,915 incident cases of chronic liver disease (CLD) were documented among 408,560 participants initially free of the disease.

• A healthy sleep pattern, defined by factors such as sleep duration of 7-8 hours and no insomnia, is associated with a reduced risk of developing CLD.
• Participants with a sleep score of 5 had a hazard ratio of 0.54 for CLD compared to those with a score of 0-1.
• The hazard ratios for specific CLD types indicated significant reductions: 0.52 for viral hepatitis, 0.47 for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), 0.57 for cirrhosis, 0.32 for alcoholic liver disease, and 0.53 for liver cancer.
• Higher genetic risk related to the PNPLA3 gene may increase the likelihood of developing CLD in individuals with unhealthy sleep patterns.
• The interaction between healthy sleep patterns and PNPLA3 genetic risk accounted for a relative excess risk of 0.05 and an attributable proportion of 13% for CLD.

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