Changed Serum Levels of Sirtuin1 and Sirtuin3 and Their Correlations with Sleep Quality and Cognitive Function in Patients with Chronic Insomnia Disorder

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between the serum concentrations of the mitochondrial markers sirtuins-1 and sirtuins-3, sleep quality and cognitive function in individuals with chronic insomnia disorder (CID). Patients and Methods: A cohort of 80 patients with CID and 42 healthy controls (HCs) were recruited for the study. Serum concentrations of SIRT1 and SIRT3 were quantified using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Sleep quality was evaluated utilizing the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and polysomnography. The cognitive assessment tools employed included the Chinese version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA-C) for evaluating overall cognitive function, the Nine Box Maze Test (NBMT) for assessing multidimensional memory, and the Blue Velvet Arena Test (BVAT) for examining spatial memory. Results: In comparison to HCs, patients with CID exhibited a significantly elevated PSQI score (Z=− 9.094, P < 0.001), reduced MoCA score ( Z =− 4.075, P < 0.001), and increased error distance in the BVAT task (Z=− 2.096, P < 0.05), with more errors in multi-memory components consisting of spatial reference (Z=− 2.963, P < 0.01), spatial working (Z=− 2.455, P < 0.05), object working (Z=− 2.356, P < 0.05), and object recognition (Z=− 2.025, P < 0.05) in the NBMT task. The patients also had increased serum levels of sirtuins-1 ( Z =6.718, P < 0.001) and sirtuins-3 ( Z =− 6.223, P < 0.001). Analysis of partial correlation revealed that the patients’ serum concentrations of sirtuins-1 and sirtuins-3 were positively associated with the PSQI score and spatial reference memory errors in the NBMT and negatively correlated with the delayed recall score in the MoCA-C. The sirtuins-1 level were positively associated with object recognition memory errors in the NBMT. Furthermore, sirtuins-3 level was negatively correlated with patients’ illness duration. Conclusion: Patients with CID may have mitochondrial dysfunction in the brain which might be associated with worse sleep and cognition. Keywords: cognition dysfunction, insomnia disorder, mitochondria, sirtuins