# The Influence of Sleep and Diet on Human Peripheral Immunity and Chronic Health Conditions

**Authors:** Yiran Zhao, Wenran Li, Bingjie Li, Siyu Zhou, Xianlei Zhao, Qi Wang, Yingyu Cheng, Yali Luo, Jingxuan Han, Xuling Han, Helian Li, Jian Gao, Jialin Zhao, Zhonghan Sun, Mengmeng Kong, Xiaofeng Zhou, Ying Yu, Wanwan Hou, Qinsheng Chen, Jingxian Zhang, Xiaofeng Wang, Jingchun Luo, Li Jin, Leming Shi, Yan Zheng, Huiru Tang, Sijia Wang, Feng Qian

PMC · DOI: 10.34133/research.1081 · 2026-02-19

## TL;DR

This study explores how sleep and diet affect the immune system and chronic health through multiomics data from 1,001 participants.

## Contribution

The study provides a comprehensive map of exposure-immunome-omics interactions and identifies sleep and diet as key factors influencing immunity.

## Key findings

- Sleep and diet significantly affect innate immune cell proportions and immune cell surface protein expression.
- Short-term late sleep increases interleukin-1β, while long-term late sleep causes chronic inflammation and metabolic changes.
- Sleep effects on immunity are linked to the transcriptome, while diet effects are tied to the metabolome.

## Abstract

Exposures that disrupt the immune system can affect human health. This study aimed to understand immune variability influenced by exposures from the perspectives of systems biology and multiomics. We recruited 1,001 healthy participants and collected 183 exposures, 1,332 immunophenotypes, whole blood transcriptome, and plasma metabolome. Through exposure–immune wide association analysis, we identified 81 significant signals, with sleep and diet emerging as dominant exposures affecting the immunity. Sleep and diet influence the proportions of innate immune cells and the expression levels of immune cell surface proteins such as CD85j and CD16, respectively. Notably, distinct from the increase in interleukin-1β secretion caused by short-term late sleep onset, long-term late sleep onset triggered chronic inflammation with more metabolic changes. On the basis of the intracorrelation structure of exposure data, composite exposures were constructed and were found to have additional effects on immunophenotypes. Bidirectional mediation analysis revealed that sleep effects on immunity are commonly linked to the transcriptome, whereas dietary influences on immunity are primarily associated with the metabolome. We quantified the mediation effects of exposures, omics, and immunophenotypes and further demonstrated that these effects reflect human immune health or chronic diseases. Our study drew a comprehensive map of “exposure–immunome–omics” and is expected to provide guidance for future health assessment and management.

## Linked entities

- **Proteins:** LILRB1 (leukocyte immunoglobulin like receptor B1), FCGR3B (Fc gamma receptor IIIb)

## Full-text entities

- **Genes:** FGF21 (fibroblast growth factor 21) [NCBI Gene 26291], Gzmb (granzyme B) [NCBI Gene 14939] {aka CCP-1/C11, CCP1, Ctla-1, Ctla1, GZB}, CD8A (CD8 subunit alpha) [NCBI Gene 925] {aka CD8, CD8alpha, IMD116, Leu2, p32}, FCGR3A (Fc gamma receptor IIIa) [NCBI Gene 2214] {aka CD16-II, CD16A, FCG3, FCGR3, FCRIIIA, FcGRIIIA}, IL6 (interleukin 6) [NCBI Gene 3569] {aka BSF-2, BSF2, CDF, HGF, HSF, IFN-beta-2}, CRP (C-reactive protein) [NCBI Gene 1401] {aka PTX1}, NLRP3 (NLR family pyrin domain containing 3) [NCBI Gene 114548] {aka AGTAVPRL, AII, AVP, C1orf7, CIAS1, CLR1.1}, LILRB1 (leukocyte immunoglobulin like receptor B1) [NCBI Gene 10859] {aka CD85J, ILT-2, ILT2, LIR-1, LIR1, MIR-7}, GZMB (granzyme B) [NCBI Gene 3002] {aka C11, CCPI, CGL-1, CGL1, CSP-B, CSPB}, IFNG (interferon gamma) [NCBI Gene 3458] {aka IFG, IFI, IMD69}, IL4 (interleukin 4) [NCBI Gene 3565] {aka BCGF-1, BCGF1, BSF-1, BSF1, IL-4}, LEP (leptin) [NCBI Gene 3952] {aka LEPD, OB, OBS}, CXCR5 (C-X-C motif chemokine receptor 5) [NCBI Gene 643] {aka BLR1, CD185, MDR15}, IL13 (interleukin 13) [NCBI Gene 3596] {aka IL-13, P600}, IL2 (interleukin 2) [NCBI Gene 3558] {aka IL-2, TCGF, lymphokine}, TSPAN4 (tetraspanin 4) [NCBI Gene 7106] {aka NAG-2, NAG2, TETRASPAN, TM4SF7, TSPAN-4}, INS (insulin) [NCBI Gene 3630] {aka IDDM, IDDM1, IDDM2, ILPR, IRDN, MODY10}, CST7 (cystatin F) [NCBI Gene 8530] {aka CMAP}, IL2RB (interleukin 2 receptor subunit beta) [NCBI Gene 3560] {aka CD122, IL15RB, IMD63, P70-75}, GLP1R (glucagon like peptide 1 receptor) [NCBI Gene 2740] {aka GLP-1, GLP-1-R, GLP-1R}, IL1B (interleukin 1 beta) [NCBI Gene 3553] {aka IL-1, IL1-BETA, IL1F2, IL1beta}, CYFIP1 (cytoplasmic FMR1 interacting protein 1) [NCBI Gene 23191] {aka P140SRA-1, SHYC, SRA-1, SRA1}, GCG (glucagon) [NCBI Gene 2641] {aka GLP-1, GLP1, GLP2, GRPP}, TLR4 (toll like receptor 4) [NCBI Gene 7099] {aka ARMD10, CD284, TLR-4, TOLL}, TNF (tumor necrosis factor) [NCBI Gene 7124] {aka DIF, IMD127, TNF-alpha, TNFA, TNFSF2, TNLG1F}, IL10 (interleukin 10) [NCBI Gene 3586] {aka CSIF, GVHDS, IL-10, IL10A, TGIF}, NCR1 (natural cytotoxicity triggering receptor 1) [NCBI Gene 9437] {aka CD335, LY94, NK-p46, NKP46}, GIP (gastric inhibitory polypeptide) [NCBI Gene 2695], TLR5 (toll like receptor 5) [NCBI Gene 7100] {aka MELIOS, SLE1, SLEB1, TIL3}, CXCL8 (C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 8) [NCBI Gene 3576] {aka GCP-1, GCP1, IL8, LECT, LUCT, LYNAP}, FGF23 (fibroblast growth factor 23) [NCBI Gene 8074] {aka ADHR, FGFN, HFTC2, HPDR2, HYPF, PHPTC}
- **Diseases:** COVID-19 (MESH:D000086382), endocrine diseases (MESH:D004700), cardiovascular and neurological diseases (MESH:D002318), rheumatic and autoimmune diseases (MESH:D012216), IHM (OMIM:603663), IR (MESH:D007333), RA (MESH:D001172), viral infections (MESH:D014777), hypertension (MESH:D006973), Nocturnal sleep restriction (MESH:D002313), Chronic Health Conditions (MESH:D000071069), chronic (MESH:D002908), infectious diseases (MESH:D003141), organ damage (MESH:D000092124), SD (MESH:D012892), type 2 diabetes (MESH:D003924), uPDI (MESH:D010939), diabetes (MESH:D003920), cancer (MESH:D009369), mental disorders (MESH:D001523), impaired glucose homeostasis (MESH:D044882), chronic inflammation (MESH:D007249), sleep (MESH:D012893), influenza (MESH:D007251), NSPT (MESH:D059445), respiratory diseases (MESH:D012140), abnormal energy metabolism (MESH:D008659), SLE (MESH:D008180), autoimmune diseases (MESH:D001327), obesity (MESH:D009765), cytomegalovirus infection (MESH:D003586), noncommunicable diseases (MESH:D000073296)
- **Chemicals:** urea (MESH:D014508), phosphatidylserine (MESH:D010718), phosphatidylcholine (MESH:D010713), acyl carnitine (MESH:C116917), cholesterylesters (MESH:D002788), S (MESH:D013455), sphingomyelin (MESH:D013109), bile acids (MESH:D001647), PE (MESH:C483858), Si (MESH:D012825), ACar (-), carnitines (MESH:D002331), alcohol (MESH:D000438), l-Tryptophan (MESH:D014364), DAG (MESH:D004075), heparin (MESH:D006493), lysophosphatidylcholine (MESH:D008244), monoacylglycerol (MESH:D050178), Ca (MESH:D002118), reactive oxygen species (MESH:D017382), glucose (MESH:D005947), R848 (MESH:C402365), serotonin (MESH:D012701), citrate (MESH:D019343), CO2 (MESH:D002245), Glutamine (MESH:D005973), Cs (MESH:D002586), ATP (MESH:D000255), sterol (MESH:D013261), LPS (MESH:D008070), lipid (MESH:D008055), nitrogen (MESH:D009584), epinephrine (MESH:D004837), triacylglycerol (MESH:D014280), N-acetylneuraminic acid (MESH:D019158), Rb (MESH:D012413), TMAO (MESH:C005855), PI (MESH:D010716), PS (MESH:D010758), glutamic acid (MESH:D018698), norepinephrine (MESH:D009638), CE (MESH:D002563), B (MESH:D001895), prostaglandin D2 (MESH:D015230), SM (MESH:D012493), 5-hydroxytryptophan (MESH:D006916), phosphatidylglycerol (MESH:D010715), FFA (MESH:D005230), Li (MESH:D008094)
- **Species:** Mycobacterium tuberculosis (species) [taxon 1773], Staphylococcus aureus (species) [taxon 1280], Homo sapiens (human, species) [taxon 9606], Mus musculus (house mouse, species) [taxon 10090], Allium sativum (garlic, species) [taxon 4682], Nicotiana tabacum (American tobacco, species) [taxon 4097]
- **Mutations:** A to F, A to C, (C) to (F), E to G, C to F, D to F
- **Cell lines:** THPA — Homo sapiens (Human), Adult hepatocellular carcinoma, Cancer cell line (CVCL_VN30)

## Figures

5 figures with captions in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12943795/full.md

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Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12943795