Probably everyone at least once came across the concept of “biological clock”. They exist not only in the organism as a whole, but also in practically every specific cell. Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have shown that the “schedule” by which cells in our body work directly affects our health.
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Research identifiedthat shift workers are more at risk of obesity and diabetes than others, because their biological clock is not working properly, including due to irregular meals.
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A group of researchers led by Mitchell Lazar (Mitchell Lazar), a diabetes and metabolic disease specialist, has directly addressed the issue. results their works are published in the journal Science.
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“The internal clock in the brain synchronizes biorhythms in peripheral tissues, and disturbances in this system lead to metabolic problems, – explained Lazar. “But what specific factors influence this process is not yet completely clear.”
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Lazar’s team, led by Dongyin Guan, Ph.D., bred a group of mice that had abnormal internal clocks in hepatocytes, a major type of liver cell, the metabolic center of the body.
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As a result, the concentration of triglycerides in the blood of the mice increased, which increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes and stroke. In this way, scientists have shown that the normal functioning of biorhythms in liver cells is extremely important for maintaining the normal state of the body.
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In addition, it turned out that abnormalities in the biological rhythms of hepatocytes caused problems in other types of liver cells.
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Also, the experiment of Lazar’s team demonstrated that biorhythms are influenced not only by the periods of sleep and wakefulness, but also by the time of eating: the nutrition of the mice influenced at least half of the factors setting the internal clock.
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The scientists hope their findings will help optimize shift work schedules for disease prevention and potentially suggest strategies for treating metabolic patients.
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