Iran Daily

Study shows how shift work disrupts metabolism

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Anew study revealed how working night shifts disrupted metabolism, leading to obesity, diabetes and other metabolic disorders. The study published in the Proceeding­s of the National Academy of Sciences, dispelled the belief that the metabolic disruption in shift workers was driven primarily by the brain’s master clock, which normally keeps our bodies on a day-night cycle and uses light cues to synchroniz­e the rhythms of the body’s organs and tissues, xinhuanet. com reported.

Instead, the study found that separate biological clocks (socalled peripheral oscillator­s) in the liver, gut and pancreas have a mind of their own.

Working with colleagues at the University of Surrey, the Washington State University (WSU) researcher­s collected blood samples from healthy volunteers who had just completed either a simulated day shift schedule or a simulated night shift schedule.

The investigat­ors analyzed the blood samples for metabolite­s, products of chemical reactions involved in digestion, such as the breakdown and oxidizatio­n of food molecules, as well as in other metabolic processes in cells and organs.

They found that, following the night shift schedule, 24-hour rhythms in metabolite­s related to the digestive system had shifted by a full 12 hours, even though the master biological clock in participan­ts’ brains had only moved by about two hours.

The paper’s co-senior author Hans Van Dongen, director of the WSU Sleep and Performanc­e Research Center, said, “No one knew that biological clocks in people’s digestive organs are so profoundly and quickly changed by shift work schedules, Spokane campus.

First, half of them completed a three-day simulated night shift schedule, while the rest were on a three-day simulated day shift schedule.

Then, after completing their simulated shifts, all participan­ts were kept in a constant routine protocol used to study humans’ internally generated biological rhythms independen­t of any external inàuences.

During this protocol, they were kept awake for 24 hours in a semi-reclined posture. They received identical snacks every hour and were kept under constant light exposure and room temperatur­e. Every three hours a blood sample was drawn.

The blood samples were analyzed at the University of Surrey’s Metabolomi­cs Core Facility for 132 different metabolite­s related to metabolism and the digestive system.

The paper’s ¿rst author Debra Skene, professor of neuroendoc­rinology at the University of Surrey, said, “Twenty-seven metabolite­s followed a 24-hour rhythm during both the simulated night and day shift schedules.

“Of these, 24 displayed a dramatic 12hour shift in rhythm following the simulated night shift schedule, which was not observed following the day shift schedule.

“This indicated that just three days of being on a night shift schedule has the potential to disrupt metabolism.”

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