Journal of Sleep Disorders & Therapy
Open Access

Abstract

Cortisol Responses to High Intensity Exercise Following Sleep Deprivation

Travis Anderson*, Kevin Ritsche, Nathaniel T Berry and Laurie Wideman

Background: Sleep deprivation has been associated with a variety of pathological conditions. Cortisol demonstrates a robust circadian rhythm and has been implicated as a synchronizing hormone for peripheral tissues. Cortisol will increase in response to high-intensity exercise and may be a useful treatment for circadian misalignment caused by sleep deprivation. However, it is currently unknown if cortisol responses to exercise would be affected by sleep deprivation. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate whether cortisol responses to exercise performed following 24 hours of sleep deprivation would differ from responses following regular sleep.

Methods: Participants (n=8) completed a high-intensity cycling protocol following both sleep and sleep deprivation. Serum samples were analyzed to assess cortisol and glucose concentrations before and after the high intensity exercise. Biomarker data were analyzed via two-way repeated measures ANOVA with Bonferroni post-hoc analysis.

Results: Serum cortisol concentrations increased following the cessation of exercise, before falling toward baseline levels. There was no significant interaction effect between condition and time (p=0.969) or main effect of condition (p=0.262).

Conclusion: These results demonstrate that short duration, high-intensity exercise induces a significant increase in cortisol concentration, regardless of sleep status.

Published Date: 2024-06-30; Received Date: 2020-03-12