People suffering from insomnia may have a rather unusual way to improve their sleep. Chinese scientists have discovered that the transplantation of gut microbiota from healthy donors could potentially help with chronic sleep problems. The details are reported by the New York Post.
Insomnia can arise for various reasons — from stress and daily habits to sleep schedule disruptions and health problems. However, recent research shows that the gut microbiome can also affect sleep quality.
One way to change its composition is fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT), or fecal transplant. During such a procedure, microorganisms from a healthy donor's gut are transferred to another person's body. In some cases, capsules containing donor microbiota are used for this purpose.
Such capsules are already being studied as a potential treatment for various diseases. Now, Chinese scientists have investigated whether FMT can also help people with chronic insomnia.
A small study involved 80 adults who had suffered from insomnia for a long time. Half of them received capsules containing gut bacteria isolated from donor stool samples of healthy people who slept well. The other half received a placebo.
Prior to this, participants in the main group took antibiotics for two days to reduce the number of their own gut bacteria. They then received 60 capsules with donor microbiota, and two weeks later, another 20.
Researchers assessed sleep quality using polysomnography. During this examination, brain waves, eye movements, heart rate, oxygen levels, and breathing are recorded.
After one month, sleep efficiency in the FMT group increased from approximately 79% to 93%. This indicator refers to the proportion of time a person is actually asleep while in bed. In the placebo group, the changes were significantly smaller — from approximately 85% to 87%.
Even more noticeable was the difference in nighttime awakenings. In patients after microbiota transplantation, the time spent awake after falling asleep decreased from an average of 79 to 17 minutes. In the placebo group, it, on the contrary, slightly increased — from 37 to 42 minutes.
One possible explanation for this effect is related to the so-called 'gut-brain axis'. Gut microorganisms produce substances that can enter the brain via the bloodstream and influence inflammatory processes, the body's stress response, and the regulation of sleep-wake cycles.
Moreover, participants who received FMT reported improved sleep even six months after the procedure.
Despite the encouraging results, the study has several limitations. Only 80 people participated, and their sleep quality was objectively assessed only once — one month after the start of treatment. Furthermore, participants took antibiotics before transplantation, so it is currently difficult to precisely determine what role the donor microbiota specifically played in improving sleep.
The question of causality also remains: can changes in the gut microbiome contribute to insomnia, or, conversely, do sleep disturbances themselves alter its composition?
Therefore, further research is needed to better understand the mechanism of this connection. For now, fecal microbiota transplantation remains an experimental method for treating insomnia.
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