ArticleScientific reports2019
Butyrate, a metabolite of intestinal bacteria, enhances sleep.
Article in Scientific reports, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 119 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
119 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 221 citations in OpenAlex.
- What is the nature of sleep and circadian rhythm health on gastrointestinal microbiota? A systematic review of studies in humans.Sleep medicine reviews · 2026Pooled it
- Gut microbiome changes due to sleep disruption in older and younger individuals: a case for sarcopenia?Sleep · 2022Pooled it
- Dietary fibre blend improves gut health in patients with irritable bowel syndrome following a low FODMAP diet: a randomised, double-blind control trial.European journal of nutrition · 2026Trial
- Effects of short-chain fatty acid-butyrate supplementation on expression of circadian-clock genes, sleep quality, and inflammation in patients with active ulcerative colitis: a double-blind randomized controlled trial.Lipids in health and disease · 2024Trial
- PROVIT-CLOCK: A Potential Influence of Probiotics and Vitamin B7 Add-On Treatment and Metabolites on Clock Gene Expression in Major Depression.Neuropsychobiology · 2024Trial
- Does Fibre-fix provided to people with irritable bowel syndrome who are consuming a low FODMAP diet improve their gut health, gut microbiome, sleep and mental health? A double-blinded, randomised controlled trial.BMJ open gastroenterology · 2020Trial
- Role and mechanism of gut microbiota and metabolites in schizophrenia complicated with sleep disorder.Gut microbes · 2026Review
- Branched-chain amino acids and gut microbiota: coregulation and impact on neurological function via the gut-brain axis.Gut microbes · 2026Review
- The glymphatic-lymphatic axis: known pathways, open questions, and emerging roles in neurodegeneration.Translational neurodegeneration · 2026Review
- Subjective and objective sleep quality during late pregnancy and the association with maternal gut microbiota in Chinese pregnant women.Sleep & breathing = Schlaf & Atmung · 2026Article
- Effects of Cd8a Gene Knockout on Gut Microbiota and Liver Metabolism.Immunity, inflammation and disease · 2026Article
- Gut Microbiome-Sleep Crosstalk: Mechanistic Pathways, Dysbiosis Signatures, and Microbiome-Based Interventions.Brain and behavior · 2026Review
- From alpha diversity to zeitgebers: Functional implications and potential mechanisms linking the gut microbiome to sleep and circadian disruption (Part II).Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2026Review
- Single-cell multi-omics sequencing reveals cell-specific transcriptomic and chromatin accessibility profiles in gut microbiome metabolite butyrate-produced pain modulation.International journal of oral science · 2026Article
- Observational
- Hypoxia-Induced Gut-Brain Axis Remodeling and Insomnia: Mechanisms and Microbiota Adaptive Regulation from a Translational Perspective.Journal of inflammation research · 2026Review
- Sishen wan modulates gut microbial and short-chain fatty-acid imbalances and ameliorates behavioral and inflammatory abnormalities in mice with chronic sleep deprivation.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- Beyond the Gut: A Case Report of Antibiotic-Induced Dysbiosis as a Hidden Cause of Chronic Insomnia.Cureus · 2026Article
- The gut microbiota-metabolite-target axis in insomnia: network pharmacology and gut microbiota profiling insights into pathogenesis and intervention with Cinnamomi Cortex-Gardeniae Fructus.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- Restoring Histone Acetylation Accelerates Diabetic Wound Repair by Improving the Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Macrophages.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2025Article
59 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Emerging evidence suggests that the intestinal microbiota is a source of sleep-promoting signals. Bacterial metabolites and components of the bacterial cell wall are likely to provide important links between the intestinal commensal flora and sleep-generating mechanisms in the brain. Butyrate is a short-chain fatty acid produced by the intestinal bacteria by the fermentation of nondigestible polysaccharides. We tested the hypothesis that butyrate may serve as a bacterial-derived sleep-promoting signal. Oral gavage administration of tributyrin, a butyrate pro-drug, elicited an almost 50% increase in non-rapid-eye movement sleep (NREMS) in mice for 4 hours after the treatment. Similarly, intraportal injection of butyrate led to prompt and robust increases in NREMS in rats. In the first 6 hours after the butyrate injection, NREMS increased by 70%. Both the oral and intraportal administration of butyrate led to a significant drop in body temperature. Systemic subcutaneous or intraperitoneal injection of butyrate did not have any significant effect on sleep or body temperature. The results suggest that the sleep-inducing effects of butyrate are mediated by a sensory mechanism located in the liver and/or in the portal vein wall. Hepatoportal butyrate-sensitive mechanisms may play a role in sleep modulation by the intestinal microbiota.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.