The Effect of Vitamin D Deficiency and Exposure to Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals on Sleep Duration in Adults

by | May 14, 2024 | 2024, Recent Articles, Sleep, Vitamin D - Recommended Levels, Vitamins

Written by Harold Oster, MD. Results suggest that exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals has a variable association with sleep duration, and vitamin D deficiency may affect this interaction.

Insufficient sleep, which is reported by more than 25% of Americans, is associated with obesity, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and stroke1. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), which include pesticides, phthalates, and biphenyls, are common in the environment and may have negative health consequences in humans through disruption of the hypothalamic-pituitary-reproductive axis2. Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to insufficient sleep duration3 and endocrine disorders4.

Ruiqi Zhou et al. studied the association between exposure to EDCs and sleep duration in adults. In addition, the authors analyzed the effect vitamin D deficiency might have on this correlation. The authors analyzed information gathered between 2007 and 2014 for the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a population-based cross-sectional study conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention5. Exposure to fifteen common EDCs was determined by measurement of urinary metabolites. The participants’ sleep duration was assessed with the Munich Chronotype Questionnaire6. Blood samples were tested for vitamin D, with deficiency defined as a level lower than 12 ng/mL. Participants were evaluated for possible covariables, including demographics, body mass index, smoking, and alcohol use.

The authors noted the following:

  • Based on inclusion criteria, data from 5,476 participants was analyzed.
  • The mean sleep duration was 6.8 hours.
  • About 4% of the participants were vitamin D deficient.
  • Vitamin D-deficient participants reported a shorter sleep duration than those with normal levels. (6.51 vs 6.89 hours)
  • After adjustment for covariables, exposure to the EDCs mono-ethyl phthalate (MEP), mono-benzyl phthalate (MZP), bisphenol A, methylparaben, and propylparaben were negatively correlated with sleep duration.
  • Triclosan and benzophenone-3 were positively correlated with sleep duration.
  • Exposure to triclosan was positively correlated with sleep duration in participants with vitamin D deficiency, but there was no correlation in those with normal vitamin D levels.
  • Exposure to MZP was negatively correlated with sleep duration in those with vitamin D deficiency, but there was no correlation in those with normal vitamin D levels.
  • In participants with normal vitamin D levels, exposure to MEP and Mono-(2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl) phthalate were negatively correlated with sleep duration, while exposure to mono-(2-ethyl-5-oxohexyl) phthalate was positively associated. No correlation was found between these chemicals and sleep duration in those with vitamin D deficiency.

Results suggest that exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals has a variable association with sleep duration, and vitamin D deficiency may affect this interaction. The study’s limitations include its cross-sectional design, the use of a questionnaire to assess sleep duration, and possible residual confounding.

Source:  Zhou, Ruiqi, Zhongwen Chen, Tingting Yang, Huiwen Gu, Xiaohong Yang, and Shuqun Cheng. “Vitamin D Deficiency Exacerbates Poor Sleep Outcomes with Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals Exposure: A Large American Population Study.” Nutrients 16, no. 9 (2024): 1291.

© 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
4.0/).

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Posted May 14, 2024.

Harold Oster, MD graduated from medical school in Miami, Florida in 1992 and moved to Minnesota in 2004. After more than 25 years of practicing Internal Medicine, he recently retired. Dr. Oster is especially interested in nutrition, weight management, and disease prevention. Visit his website at haroldoster.com.

References:

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  3. Gao Q, Kou T, Zhuang B, Ren Y, Dong X, Wang Q. The Association between Vitamin D Deficiency and Sleep Disorders: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Nutrients. Oct 1 2018;10(10)doi:10.3390/nu10101395
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