The Impact of Sleep Deprivation and Stress Reactivity on Interleukin-6

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) has been implicated as a biomarker for both stress and sleep deprivation. Gaining a clearer understanding of the impact of both conditions concurrently may provide a better understanding of the biological basis of both sleep and stress. We developed an experiment that combined sleep deprivation and the Trier Social Stress Test in order to see how the two conditions interact. We found no significant impact of stress and sleep deprivation on IL-6 levels. Our findings indicate that more research must be conducted in order to fully test this relationship.