# Impact of Sleep Duration on Immune Balance in Urban Children with Asthma

> **NIH NIH R01** · RHODE ISLAND HOSPITAL · 2021 · $763,087

## Abstract

Project Summary / Abstract
Urban children with asthma are at high risk for short sleep, due to an environment that jeopardizes sleep and
asthma management. Further, this group suffers from altered immune balance, a key biological process
contributing to individual differences in asthma morbidity and sleep health. Allergic asthma is a chronic
inflammatory disorder driven primarily by disturbed T helper 1 (Th1)/ 2 (Th2) cytokine balance marked by Th2
cytokine (IL-4, IL-5 and/or IL-13) predominance. Experimental findings in healthy adults show that shortened
sleep increases inflammatory cytokine (e.g., IL-6) and certain Th2 cytokine levels and that recovery sleep
following sleep restriction promotes a return to immune balance. Whether sleep duration plays a key role in
immune function and associated asthma activity in urban children with asthma remains a scientific gap. We will
use an experimental design that targets sleep duration, because (1) the urban environment and asthma
symptoms interact to shorten sleep, (2) sleep duration is a modifiable behavior overlooked in clinical care of
urban children with asthma, and (3) experimental data are critical to test a causal link for sleep duration as a
mechanism underlying immune balance and asthma.
 We will enroll urban children (N=204; ages 8-9 years) with persistent allergic asthma and adequate sleep
duration (9-11 h) who will complete a 4-week within-subjects protocol that includes 3 scheduled experimental
sleep conditions: (1) 1 week stabilized sleep (individualized; 9-11 h time in bed), (2) 1 week shortened sleep
(1.5 h decrease in time in bed), and (3) 2 weeks recovery sleep (1.5 h increase in time in bed). We will monitor
sleep duration (actigraphy) and lung function (home spirometry) daily and assess immune biomarkers weekly
and at the midpoint of shortened sleep. To control time-in-study effects, 1/3 of our sample will receive only the
stabilized sleep schedule across the 4-week protocol. In this project, we will study only urban children with
allergic asthma who obtain sufficient sleep (9-11 h, within national guidelines). Our shortened sleep protocol
will model the sleep loss that urban children with asthma can experience due to asthma and/or urban context.
Additionally, our recovery sleep protocol simulates a sleep optimization intervention following shortened sleep
in a well-controlled approach.
 The first aim of the study is to examine the effects of shortened sleep on immune balance [e.g., Th1
(Interferon-IFNγ)/Th2 (Interleukin-IL-4, IL-5, IL-13)R and plasma IL-6 levels]. The second aim involves
determining the effects of recovery sleep on immune balance. The third aim involves examining the extent to
which changes in immune balance are associated with changes in asthma-related lung function (changes in
FEV1) under conditions of shortened and recovery sleep. Results from this study ultimately will support the
development feasible, ecologically valid, and clinically meaningful interventions...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10311771
- **Project number:** 1R01HL156277-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** RHODE ISLAND HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Daphne Koinis Mitchell
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $763,087
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-08-15 → 2026-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10311771

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10311771, Impact of Sleep Duration on Immune Balance in Urban Children with Asthma (1R01HL156277-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10311771. Licensed CC0.

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