AMPLESleep Version 1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
AMPLESleep: AMyloid Protein Level Examination in relation to Sleep. The Measurement of Beta-Amyloid in Cerebrospinal Fluid Samples and its Relation to Sleep in Cognitive Clinic Patients.
IRAS ID
244234
Contact name
James Selwood
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Bristol
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 3 months, 31 days
Research summary
Research is showing that poor sleep increases the chance of getting Alzheimer’s dementia. We are in desperate need of finding ways to reduce the number of people affected by this devastating disease. Improving sleep may be an option but first we need to refine our understanding of how sleep and Alzheimer's dementia are linked. One of the key problems in this disease is the build-up of a protein, called amyloid, in the brain. Sleep appears to be vital for clearing amyloid and reducing this build-up in the brain. Broken, or fragmented, sleep may stop this normal clearance from taking place.
The research team aims to test whether fragmented sleep is associated with abnormal amyloid levels. The amount of amyloid can be measured by taking a small sample of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). This is the fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord. The CSF sample is obtained by lumbar puncture (LP) and involves inserting a very fine needle in the back under local anaesthetic. This is already part of routine clinical care for some patients who attend cognitive clinics at North Bristol NHS Trust. All patients who have had an LP for CSF biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease as part of their routine clinical care will be invited to participate in this study. Patients will not be asked to have another LP for this study. Interested patients will attend a screening visit and their eligibility to participate will be confirmed. Consenting participants will then be given an actigraphy wristband and a sleep diary. They will be asked to wear the actigraph and complete the sleep diary over ten days. They will be asked to repeat this one year later to see whether there has been any change in their sleep patterns.
REC name
South West - Central Bristol Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/SW/0183
Date of REC Opinion
22 Oct 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion