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. 2014 Aug 20;9(8):e105583.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0105583. eCollection 2014.

Associations between longer habitual day napping and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in an elderly Chinese population

Hua Qu  1 , Hang Wang  1 , Min Deng  1 , Huili Wei  1 , Huacong Deng  1
Affiliations

Associations between longer habitual day napping and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in an elderly Chinese population

Hua Qu et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Context: Both longer habitual day napping and Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) are associated with diabetes and inflammation, but the association between day napping and NAFLD remains unexplored.

Objective: To investigate the association between the duration of habitual day napping and NAFLD in an elderly Chinese population and to gain insight into the role of inflammatory cytokines in this association.

Design and setting: We conducted a series of cross-sectional studies of the community population in Chongqing, China, from 2011 to 2012.

Participants: Among 6998 participants aged 40 to 75 years, 6438 eligible participants were included in the first study and analyzed to observe the association between day napping duration and NAFLD. In a separate study, 80 non-nappers and 90 nappers were selected to identify the role of inflammatory cytokines in this association. Logistic regression models were used to examine the odds ratios (ORs) of day nap duration with NAFLD.

Results: Day nappers had a significantly higher prevalence of NAFLD (P<0.001). Longer day napping duration was associated in a dose-dependent manner with NAFLD (P trend <0.001). After adjustment for potential confounders, the ORs were 1.67 (95% CI 1.13-2.46) for those reporting 0.5-1 h and 1.49 (95% CI 1.01-2.19) for those reporting >1 h of day napping compared with individuals who did not take day naps (all P<0.05). Longer-duration day nappers had higher levels of IL-6 and progranulin (PGRN) but lower levels of Secreted frizzled-related protein-5 (SFRP5, all P trend <0.001). After adjusting for IL-6, PGRN, and SFRP5, the association between day napping duration and NAFLD disappeared (all P>0.05).

Conclusion: Longer day napping duration is associated with a higher prevalence of NAFLD, and inflammatory cytokines may be an essential link between day napping and NAFLD.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Parameters in cohort 1 population according to whether they take day naps.
Data are present as median (IQR). a P<0.01 compared with non-nappers, b P<0.05 compared with non-nappers.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Circulating SFRP5, PGRN, IL-6, and HOMA-IR levels in cohort 2 population according to duration of day napping.
Data are presented as means±SD. The P trend <0.001 for SFRP5, PGRN, IL-6, and HOMA-IR according to the duration of day napping. To analyze the statistical significance for a linear trend, these four variables were divided into tertiles. a P<0.01 compared with non-nappers, b P<0.05 compared with non-nappers, c P<0.01 compared with day napping duration <0.5 h, d P<0.05 compared with day napping duration <0.5 h, e P<0.01 compared with day napping duration 0.5–1 h.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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Publication types

Grants and funding

This study is supported by the grants from the Chinese Society of Endocrinology and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81070639, 81270911, 30771038, and 30570744). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.