title: Should we listen to our clock to prevent type 2 diabetes mellitus?
abstract: The circadian clock drives a number of metabolic processes including energy intake, storage and utilization coupled with the sleep/wake cycles. Globally, the increasing prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) has become a significant international public health concern. In view of the heavy societal burden caused by diabetes, and further, to reduce its growing incidence, it is clearly essential to understand the causes of this disease and to devise more effective strategies for its treatment. Although many factors cause T2DM, this article centers on the role of circadian regulation of metabolism. The correlation between the increased occurrence of T2DM and the ubiquity of modern social pressures such as 24/7 lifestyles as well as nocturnal lighting conditions point strongly to the hypothesis that malfunctioning of circadian controls may be involved in the etiology of the illness. Nocturnal light exposure, unusual timing of food, irregular sleep/wake schedules and traveling between different time zones are some of the factors responsible for improper entrainment of the clock. Recent reports have proposed that strengthening of circadian clock functioning and proper timing of food intake could stabilize glucose homeostasis. This strategy thus represents a chronotherapeutic option for non-pharmaceutical intervention in treating T2DM patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Behaviour, School of Biological Sciences, Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai 625 021, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors.forename: Ramanujam
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Karthikeyan
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Behaviour, School of Biological Sciences, Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai 625 021, Tamil Nadu, India. Electronic address: emailboxgm@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ganapathy
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Marimuthu
authors.affiliation: Independent Researcher,652 Dufferin Street, Toronto, ON M6K 2B4, Canada.
authors.forename: David Warren
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Spence
authors.affiliation: Center for Healthful Behavior Change (CHBC), Division of Health and Behavior, Department of Population Health, New York University Medical Center, Clinical & Translational Research Institute, New York, NY 10016, USA.
authors.forename: Seithikurippu R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Pandi-Perumal
authors.affiliation: University Sleep Disorders Center, College of Medicine, National Plan for Science and Technology, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Ahmed S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: BaHammam
authors.affiliation: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, University of Toronto, 100 Stokes St., Toronto, ON M6J 1H4, Canada.
authors.forename: Gregory M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: Department of Teaching and Research, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina, Buenos Aires, 1107, Argentina.
authors.forename: Daniel P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Cardinali
mesh_terms: D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D006706:Homeostasis; D006801:Humans
keywords: Circadian rhythms; Clock genes; Melatonin.; Metabolism; Type 2 diabetes mellitus