Research
Hormonal
The NLRP3 inflammasome is a critical mediator of sleep regulation; its activation leads to the production of IL-1beta and IL-18, which promote NREM sleep and slow-wave activity.
Understanding that sleep loss activates the NLRP3 inflammasome suggests that chronic sleep deprivation may fuel a cycle of inflammation. Breaking this cycle by improving sleep may reduce inflammasome activity.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
The nucleotide-binding domain and leucine-rich repeat protein-3 (NLRP3) inflammasome is the most well-studied inflammasome and is involved in sleep regulation.
Why this rating
Supported by multiple knockout mouse studies and human cell data cited in the review.
Source
Neuroinflammation, Sleep, and Circadian Rhythms
Mark R. Zielinski et al. · Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology · 2022
DOI 10.3389/fcimb.2022.853096
narrative_reviewCited 227×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1beta and TNF-alpha are somnogenic; their expression increases with waking activity and sleep deprivation, and they promote non-rapid-eye movement (NREM) sleep and slow-wave activity (SWA).Good
- Circadian rhythm disruption is associated with increased morbidity risk for inflammatory diseases, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, and metabolic disease.Good
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