Objective: To evaluate the therapeutic effect of Hewei Anshen Decoction (HAD) on both depressive symptoms and sleep quality in patients with depressive insomnia, and to investigate its impact on brain neurotransmitter levels.

Methods: Seventy-two patients with depressive insomnia were randomly assigned to a treatment group and a control group. The treatment group received HAD, while the control group was treated with escitalopram oxalate tablets. Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD) scores were assessed before and after treatment. Changes in the brain neurotransmitters serotonin (5-HT), dopamine (DA), and norepinephrine (NE) were measured using encephalofluctuograph technology.

Results: After 1 and 2 months of treatment, both groups showed significant reductions in HAMD and PSQI scores compared to baseline. The 5-HT levels in both groups were significantly higher after treatment. In the treatment group, DA and NE levels increased significantly compared to baseline, while no significant changes in the control group.

Conclusion: HAD demonstrated significant improvement in sleep quality and depressive symptoms in patients with depressive insomnia in the treatment group. While HAD's clinical efficacy was comparable to escitalopram, its mechanism of action may involve a broader upregulation of 5-HT, DA, and NE in the brain.

Study objectives: Accelerometry devices are increasingly used to assess sleep. However, whether different algorithms provide consistent estimates remains uncertain. This study compared sleep parameters derived from two accelerometry-based algorithms and a self-reported sleep journal.

Methods: Data were obtained from the second (2014-2017; n = 2724; 53.3% women; 62.0 ± 10.0 years) and third (2018-2021; n = 2087; 53.5% women; 65.1 ± 9.6 years) follow-ups of the CoLaus|PsyCoLaus study. Seven-day accelerometry data were analysed using GGIR (R-based) and MACRO (Excel-based) algorithms. A subset of participants also completed an ecological momentary assessment (EMA) sleep diary. Sleep onset (<22:00, 22:00-23:59, ≥24:00), average sleep duration, and average sleep efficiency were compared.

Results: In both surveys, GGIR estimated longer sleep duration than MACRO (406 ± 103 vs. 378 ± 79 min; 397 ± 60 vs. 366 ± 84 min; p < 0.001). Sleep duration correlations were moderate (Spearman r = 0.592) with Lin's concordance correlation of 0.269 and 0.513, respectively. GGIR estimates were closer to EMA than MACRO. For sleep onset, GGIR classified >80% of participants before 22:00, compared with 38%-64% (MACRO) and 8%-12% (EMA). GGIR also provided higher sleep efficiency (72 ± 17 vs. 70 ± 14%; 70 ± 7 vs. 67 ± 15%; p < 0.001; r = 0.383).

Conclusion: When assessing sleep from accelerometry, algorithm choice strongly influences estimates, highlighting the need for standardisation.

Objective: To assess sleep quality and its influencing factors in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF).

Methods: A study of 112 CHF patients was conducted using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Clinical and socio-demographic data were collected. Relationships were analyzed via multiple linear regression (with LASSO for variable selection), and feature importance was evaluated with a random forest model, validated by training-test splitting and SHAP analysis.

Results: PSQI scores were significantly elevated in CHF patients. Multiple regression identified NYHA class and NT-proBNP as independent predictors of poor sleep, while longer heart failure duration was inversely associated with PSQI in the adjusted model—a finding that warrants further investigation. LASSO selected these three variables. Random forest indicated NT-proBNP had the highest feature importance, confirmed by SHAP, though the model's predictive performance was limited (R² = 0.049).

Conclusion: Impaired sleep is prevalent in CHF and is significantly associated with disease severity markers NT-proBNP and NYHA class, highlighting sleep management as a potential component of comprehensive care.

Background: Sleep deprivation leads to changes in circadian rhythm, causing skin problems and aging. Whether acute sleep deprivation can be normalized after 14 days of natural skin metabolism is an important indicator for guiding treatment of sleep-related skin physiological changes and mechanisms.

Methods: This study aims to investigate skin biophysical changes after one night of acute sleep deprivation and to assess a 14-day post-sleep deprivation recovery period to understand the most relevant skin biophysical changes correlated with circadian rhythm disruption. Forty-four Chinese women aged 21-49 participated in a single-center, self-controlled study in Beijing, China.

Results: After one night of sleep deprivation, their 14-day recovery status was observed using a variety of skin physiological parameters. We found that the impacts of sleep deprivation on skin condition could not be fully recovered. Key correlations were identified, such as between skin lightness and pigmentation intensity. Skin transparency was more closely associated with hydration, yellowness and redness.

Conclusion: These insights provide a foundation for further research into the long-term impacts of sleep deprivation on skin health and the development of innovative assessment and intervention methods. The machine learning model has the potential to be integrated into portable devices for real-time skin health monitoring, enabling more personalized and effective skin care strategies.

Objective: To assess the association between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) risk levels and major cardiovascular disease (CVD) subtypes in individuals with metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD).

Methods: This cohort study included 128,022 MAFLD participants from the UK Biobank without CVD at baseline. OSA risk was assessed using the Berlin Questionnaire. Cardiovascular outcomes, including coronary heart disease (CHD), atrial fibrillation (AF), heart failure (HF), and stroke, were identified via hospital and death records. Cox proportional hazards models estimated the associations between OSA risk levels and CVD events.

Results: Over a median follow-up of 13.6 years, 25,618 CVD events occurred. Compared with participants at low OSA risk, those at high OSA risk were associated with higher CHD (hazard ratios [HR], 1.10; 95% CI: 1.06-1.14) and AF (HR, 1.05; 95% CI: 1.01-1.10) after full adjustment, but not with HF (HR, 1.05; 95% CI: 0.98-1.11) or stroke (HR, 0.94; 95% CI: 0.87-1.02). Associations were strongest in overweight individuals without diabetes. No significant interaction was observed between OSA risk and genetic CVD susceptibility.

Conclusion: High OSA risk independently increases CHD and AF risk in MAFLD, particularly among overweight individuals without diabetes, suggesting targeted intervention may be beneficial.

Introduction: Short sleep may lead to impairments in executive function, including inhibitory control (IC). After bariatric surgery, better IC is associated with more favorable weight loss and weight maintenance outcomes.

Methods: This study examined the relationships between IC via a Go/No-Go (GNG) task with sleep outcomes in a sample of 22 adult females (age, 53.5 ± 9.3 years and BMI, 35.5 ± 8.5 kg/m²) who underwent bariatric surgery. Sleep was captured via 7-day actigraphy and sleep diaries and one night of in-home polysomnography. IC was assessed via a computerized GNG task.

Results: Greater sleep duration variability, but not mean sleep duration nor sleep architecture, was associated with greater reaction time (RT) variability (i.e., the standard deviation in RT across trials) on the GNG task (r = 0.57 and p = 0.01).

Conclusions: Consistent sleep duration may support greater IC, though larger studies are needed to confirm these exploratory associations and determine whether sleep duration variability affects weight regain risk in this population.