Sleep Variability, Eating Timing Variability, and Carotid Intima-Media Thickness in Early Adulthood

BACKGROUND: Day-to-day variability in sleep patterns and eating timing may disrupt circadian rhythms and has been linked with various adverse cardiometabolic outcomes. However, the extent to which variability in sleep patterns and eating timing relate to atherosclerotic development in subclinical stages remains unclear. METHODS AND RESULTS: Generally healthy adults (N=62, 29.3±7.3 years, 66% female) completed 14 days of sleep and dietary assessments via wrist accelerometry and photo-assisted diet records, respectively. Variability in sleep duration, sleep onset, eating onset (time of first caloric consumption), eating offset (time of last caloric consumption), and caloric midpoint (time at which 50% of total daily calories are consumed) were operationalized as the SD across 14 days for each variable. Separate regression models evaluated the cross-sectional associations between sleep and eating variability metrics with end-diastolic carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) measured via ultrasonography. Models adjusted for age, sex, systolic blood pressure, sleep duration, and total energy intake. Each 60-minute increase in sleep duration SD and sleep onset SD were associated with a 0.049±0.016 mm (P=0.003) and 0.048±0.017 mm (P=0.007) greater CIMT, respectively. Variability in eating onset and offset were not associated with CIMT; however, each 60-minute increase in caloric midpoint SD was associated with a 0.033±0.015 mm greater CIMT (P=0.029). Exploratory post hoc analyses suggested that sleep duration SD and sleep onset SD were stronger correlates of CIMT than caloric midpoint SD. CONCLUSIONS: Variability in sleep patterns and eating timing are positively associated with clinically relevant increases in CIMT, a biomarker of subclinical atherosclerosis, in early adulthood.