title: Contribution of daily and seasonal biorhythms to obesity in humans.
abstract: While the significance of obesity as a serious health problem is well recognized, little is known about whether and how biometerological factors and biorhythms causally contribute to obesity. Obesity is often associated with altered seasonal and daily rhythmicity in food intake, metabolism and adipose tissue function. Environmental stimuli affect both seasonal and daily rhythms, and the latter are under additional control of internal molecular oscillators, or body clocks. Modifications of clock genes in animals and changes to normal daily rhythms in humans (as in shift work and sleep deprivation) result in metabolic dysregulation that favours weight gain. Here, we briefly review the potential links between biorhythms and obesity in humans.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathophysiology, Poznań University of Medical Sciences, Rokietnicka 8, 60-806, Poznań, Poland, dkanikowska@ump.edu.pl.
authors.forename: Dominika
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kanikowska
authors.forename: Maki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Janusz
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Witowski
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000503:physiopathology; D001683:Biological Clocks; D056926:CLOCK Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D002909:Chronobiology Phenomena; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D004435:Eating; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007422:Intestines / Q000503:physiopathology; D008954:Models, Biological; D009765:Obesity / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010507:Periodicity; D012621:Seasons; D012890:Sleep
chemical_list: D056926:CLOCK Proteins