Acute sleep loss in humans leads to a gain in fat mass and loss of muscle mass due to a disrupted circadian clock that dysregulates metabolism.
Acute sleep loss in humans leads to a gain in fat mass and loss of muscle mass due to a disrupted circadian clock that dysregulates metabolism in adipose tissue and decreases structural proteins in skeletal muscle.
This study specifically showed that acute sleep loss (an all-nighter) is associated with a decrease in glucose metabolism in skeletal muscle, whereas this pathway is increased in adipose tissue. These data support other data suggesting that sleep loss may lead to a catabolic state in skeletal muscle.
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While this study studied the effects of 24 hours of sleep deprivation, other studies have suggested that sleep quality and quantity are also important for metabolic health.