Effects of sleep in post-myocardial infarction patients - version 01

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Investigating the effects of sleep quality on immune responses and wound healing in post-myocardial infarction patients

• IRAS ID

  329413

• Contact name

  Georgios Kremastiotis

• Contact email

  fq18634@bristol.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  University of Bristol

• Duration of Study in the UK

  3 years, 11 months, 31 days

• Research summary

  Heart attack (myocardial infarction) affects more than 100,000 patients every year in the UK. The injury triggers an inflammatory response from the immune system and fibrotic scarring regulates healing of the heart tissue. It is known that poor sleep quality can interfere with the immune system and exacerbate immune responses during disease. Therefore, it is hypothesised that poor sleep quality in heart attack patients will impair the healing.

  The prevalence of poor sleep is significantly increased in patients that experienced a heart attack; it is therefore important to investigate how sleep quality affects the immune response and wound healing following the heart attack incident.
  This study will investigate (1) sleep quality in post-heart attack patients, using qualitative (questionnaires) and quantitative methods (sleep tracker, wrist actigraph, and overnight pulse oximeter) and (2) the immune response, using cell analyses and big data approaches (such as proteomics or transcriptomics), and identify corresponding cell populations and protein markers.

  Exploring the abovementioned aims will (1) provide in-depth information about the sleep quality of post-heart attack patients, (2) explore sleep effects on immune responses and identify potential biomarkers, and (3) provide pilot evidence of sleep effects on the outcome of heart attack, to support future clinical studies.

  Patients presenting with a heart attack at University Hospitals Bristol & Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW), will be recruited and followed for up to 3 months, as outlined below:
  (i) hospitalisation period; echocardiographic assessment and collection of blood samples, as part of standard clinical practice, and completion of questionnaires on retrospective sleep data and sleep apnoea;
  (ii) at-home rehabilitation for up to 12 days post-heart attack; use of sleep tracker, wrist actigraph, and overnight pulse oximeter during night-time sleep, and completion of a daily sleep questionnaire;
  (iii) follow-up visit at 8-12 weeks post-heart attack; echocardiographic assessment and collection of blood samples, and completion of questionnaires on retrospective sleep data and sleep apnoea.

  The research will be funded from the British Heart Foundation (BHF), as part of Dr Georgios Kremastiotis’ Fellowship; application in process.

• REC name

  East Midlands - Nottingham 1 Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  24/EM/0040

• Date of REC Opinion

  21 Mar 2024

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion