Examining the Relationships Between Sleep Physiology and the Gut Microbiome in Preclinical and Translational Research: Protocol for a Scoping Review

Background Sleep is an instrumental behavioral state with evidence supporting its active role in brain function, metabolism, immune function, and cardiovascular systems. Research supports that there are pathways underlying the bidirectional communication between the brain and gastrointestinal system, also known as the “gut-brain axis.” Primary research examining sleep and gut microbiome relationships continues to increase. Although current data include both preclinical and clinical research, gut microbiome results are reported through a wide range of metrics (alpha diversity, beta diversity, and bacterial compositional changes), which makes cross-study comparison challenging. Therefore, a synthesis of the research examining sleep and gut microbiome relationships is necessary to understand the state of the science and address gaps in the literature for future research. Objective In this paper, we outline a scoping review protocol to evaluate and synthesize preclinical and clinical primary research focused on the associations between sleep and the gut microbiome. Methods The search strategy was facilitated through a medical research librarian and involved electronic databases including PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, CENTRAL trials database, BIOSIS Citation Index, and the Zoological Record. Gray literature sources including medRxiv and bioRxiv preprint servers were also searched. Studies were screened according to the aims and exclusion and inclusion criteria of the protocol. After screening, data will be extracted and synthesized from the included studies according to predefined sleep and microbiome methodology metrics. Results The search strategy yielded 4622 references that were imported for study screening, and source screening was completed in May 2022 by 2 independent investigators, resulting in a total of 93 sources for data extraction and synthesis. The data synthesis table is expected to be completed by August 2022, and the results will be disseminated through paper submission by December 2022 and presented at conferences related to neuroscience, sleep physiology, bioinformatics, and the microbiome. Conclusions A scoping review of preclinical and clinical research is needed to synthesize the growing data focused on the relationships between sleep and the gut microbiome. We expect the results of this synthesis will identify gaps in the literature and highlight pathways linking the gut-brain axis and sleep physiology to stimulate future research questions. Trial Registration Open Science Framework 69TBR; https://osf.io/69tbr International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) PRR1-10.2196/38605