Brain-derived neurotrophic factor is associated with self-reported quality of sleep in type 2 diabetes patients in Ghana

Sleep disturbances are common in Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) patients and this exacerbates the severity of disease and results in poor quality of life. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has been reported to mediate the association between T2DM and poor sleep health. We investigated the burden of self-reported poor sleep quality and duration in T2DM and their association with serum BDNF levels.In a case-control design, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Instrument (PSQI) was used to assess self-reported sleep quality and duration in 100 T2DM patients and 80 nondiabetic controls. Sociodemographic data and medical history were collected from case notes and/or using a structured questionnaire. 5 ml of fasting venous blood samples were collected to measure plasma lipid profile and serum BDNF levels.T2DM patients had low levels of BDNF, poor sleep quality (61.9% vs 27.5%, p<0.001), and shorter sleep duration (6.1±2.2 vs 6.9±1.1 hours, p=0.003). T2DM status was associated with doubling the odds of poor sleep quality [OR (95% CI) = 2.06 (1.07 - 6.43), p=0.039] and 1.6 times the odds of short sleep duration [1.63 (1.03 - 3.79), p=0.028]. There was no association between serum BDNF levels and sleep status in multivariable logistic regression analysis. However, there was a negative biological interaction between T2DM and BDNF levels on poor sleep quality, resulting in 0.28 relative excess risk due to the interaction and a 12% attributable proportion due to the interaction.T2DM patients in our study population had a high burden of self-reported poor quality of sleep and shorter sleep duration compared to the nondiabetic controls. T2DM interacts negatively with serum BDNF levels to affect sleep quality.