Sleeve gastrectomy in patients with severe obesity restores circadian rhythms and their relationship with sleep pattern

studies have focused on the recovery of the circadian expression after a weight loss treatment.

Our aim was to study the alterations of the circadian rhythmicity due to morbid obesity and the

recovery of the circadian pattern after weight loss in a cohort of patients who underwent sleeve

gastrectomy. For this purpose, 41 patients with severe obesity (75% women; age [mean (SD)]

49.7 ± 10 years; BMI 44.3 ± 6.2 kg/m2) were monitored before bariatric surgery and 9 months

afterward. On both occasions, activity and wrist temperature were determined by actigraphy and

were related with weight loss. Anthropometric, biochemical, and sleep-related variables, along with

dietary intake and physical activity, were analyzed in relation with circadian rhythmicity. Results

show significant differences in the circadian expression before and after 9 months of bariatric

surgery, with more stable and less fragmented rhythms after weight loss. Moreover, only after

surgery were the circadian variables associated to sleep timing and chronotype. The findings of this

study indicate that weight loss treatment in patients with morbid obesity improves the circadian

rhythm expression, and in such a way that it could be associated with better sleep quality.

Moreover, it allows the recovery of the relationship between sleep patterns and circadian rhythm

that was lost due to the obesity.