[Circadian clocks and lifestyle-related diseases].
Recent studies have demonstrated relationships between the disturbance of circadian rhythm and the development of lifestyle-related diseases. First, epidemiological studies showed that rotating shift workers are more likely to develop obesity, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, and cancers than day shift employees. In addition, mice with their circadian rhythm chronically impaired by alteration of the light-dark cycle also develop such diseases. Furthermore, both the genotypes and genetic modifications of the clock genes are associated with the development of lifestyle-related diseases in humans and mice, respectively. Finally, circadian clocks in peripheral tissues are impaired in both patients with type 2 diabetes and obese diabetic mice, probably not due to metabolic abnormalities, but to the lifestyle, aging, and/or genetic factors. Thus, disturbance of the circadian rhythm is an important cause of lifestyle-related diseases, and therefore the circadian clocks are attractive therapeutic targets for preventing and treating these conditions.
Division of Clinical Pharmacology, Department of Pharmacology, Jichi Medical University, Shimotsuke 329-0498, Japan. h-ando@jichi.ac.jp
Hitoshi
H
Ando
D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D057906:Circadian Clocks / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000209:etiology* / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D009765:Obesity / Q000209:etiology* / Q000235:genetics; D012307:Risk Factors