Get Your ZZZs, Your Tummy Will Thank You
April 13, 2001 -- The stomach lining appears to be a nighttime construction site -- a continual repair work-in-progress, according to a new study. And late hours, too much alcohol, and other lifestyle factors that prevent a good night's sleep, disrupt the stomach's natural repair cycle and may lead to ulcers, or tearing of the stomach lining.
Study author Felicity May, DPhil, tells WebMD that the body produces a peptide -- or low weight protein -- that naturally repairs regular damage in the lining of the stomach. Like a good cop who always shows up at the scene of a crime, the peptide appears in higher concentrations at cites where the stomach lining tears, she says.
The findings, available in the most recent issue of Gut, also show that the peptide, called TFF2, is most active at night while we sleep.
"We believe the peptide is normally involved in maintenance of the lining of the stomach and that it helps prevent erosion [of the lining] and the formation of ulcers," says May, a professor of pathology at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in the U.K. "The stomach wall is constantly being damaged because of abrasive food or alcohol. So the stomach has evolved this method by which it is constantly repairing itself."
May and colleagues monitored the amount of the chemical produced in the stomach at different times of the day for a 24-hour period in 12 healthy volunteers. The volunteers ate at the same time during the day and were asleep by 1:00 a.m. Samples of the fluid in their stomach were taken every two hours, using an aspiration tube, according to the study.
Concentrations of the peptide were lowest during the afternoon and early evening and rose during the night to reach their highest concentrations by early morning.
May believes the peptide's rhythmical production in the stomach suggests something purposeful -- that the body is naturally repairing daytime damage to the stomach when people are asleep, and that the repair work ceases when the stomach is actively digesting food during the day.