Research
Hormonal
Cytokines (IL-1beta, TNF) regulate sleep homeostasis, and stress-induced immune activation can disrupt sleep by altering cytokine levels.
Your immune system plays a direct role in how well you sleep. Inflammation or immune activation (from stress or illness) can disrupt sleep through cytokines like IL-1beta and TNF.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
The immune system is also influential in the relationship between stress and sleep. The most important link between the immune system and sleep is established by the cytokines which act as signaling molecules of the immune system such as interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), tumor necrosis factor (TNF), and interferon.
Why this rating
Based on review of immunological studies on sleep.
Source
Stress and Sleep Disorder
Kuem Sun Han et al. · Experimental Neurobiology · 2012
DOI 10.5607/en.2012.21.4.141
narrative_reviewCited 307×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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