High-protein diet alleviate cardiac damage, adipose tissue inflammation, and alterations in the gut microbiota induced by chronic sleep fragmentation

Background: Sleep is fundamental to growth, immune function, and overall health. We initiate our study to elucidate the impact of sleep fragmentation (SF) on the cardiac function, gut microbiome diversity, and the transcriptomic profile of inguinal white adipose tissue (iWAT) in mice, as well as the regulatory role of a high protein diet. Methods: We constructed chronic SF and high protein diet intervention mouse models for this research. Cardiac structure and function were evaluated by echocardiographic analyses. Gut microbiota composition was determined by 16s rDNA amplicon sequencing. Transcriptome alterations of iWAT were assessed by RNA-sequencing. Results: Our result revealed that SF interventions induced inflammatory changes in adipose tissue and perturbed the diversity and composition of the gut microbiota. Concurrently, 6-week SF intervention led to a significant decline in left ventricular systolic function in mice, manifested by a notable decrease in EF and FS. Masson staining revealed distinctions compared to the control group, suggesting an increase in myocardial collagen fiber content following SF intervention. High-protein diet intervention partially mitigated the damage to cardiac structure and function caused by SF. Meanwhile, high-protein diet coupled with improvements in the adipose tissue transcriptome changes induced by SF. Conclusions: In conclusion, chronic SF intervention induced cardiac damage, alters gut microbiota composition and induce adipose tissue inflammation. High-protein diet could partially mitigate the changes above.