A recent study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation reviewed the evidence on circadian disruption, metabolic health, and circadian locomotor output cycles kaput (clock) genes. The daily routines of life are tied to the patterns of the environment, resulting in the evolution of circadian rhythms. Cues such as temperature, sunlight, food, and sound, called zeitgebers, adapt circadian rhythms to external conditions.
Growing evidence links circadian disruptors or zeitgebers to adverse outcomes in humans. A comprehensive overview of the relationship between metabolic health and circadian gene expression is lacking. As such, the present study summarized and compared evidence from animal models with findings from epidemiological research to advance the understanding of the contribution of circadian disruption and clock gene expression to metabolic health-related pathologies.
Circadian control of molecular core clock gene signaling and physiologic regulation. The central, peripheral, and molecular clocks and the physiological processes under circadian control. The circadian clock (purple) in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the brain sets peripheral clocks in individual organs and tissue types (light green) via signals including circulating hormones, metabolites, the sympathetic nervous system, and body temperature.
Within the cells of the SCN and each organ/tissue type, each cell contains transcription-translation feedback loops, the molecular clocks that drive cir.