WORLD
Scientists learn how to reset body clocks
Baku, Sept 17 (AZERTAC). Shift workers and international travellers could in future receive treatment to reset their disrupted body clocks to improve their health.
Scientists are working towards developing drugs that target two genes that have recently been found to play a crucial role in regulating the body's circadian rhythms.
Chris Liddle, an Australian scientist involved in the international study, says the discovery highlights the importance of the genes in the liver to regulate digestion at appropriate times.
Professor Liddle, from the University of Sydney's Westmead Millennium Institute, said people with circadian disturbances, such as shift workers, tend to have higher incidences of obesity and diabetes.
He said these conditions were not necessarily caused just by poor diets, but also by the disruption of the body clock and sleep cycle.
When the two are thrown out of sync, the body may not be ready to absorb nutrition.
"You might come home from work and have your dinner at a time when the body clock has not set your liver up to process that nutrition," Prof Liddle told AAP.
He said a disrupted body clock could take days or weeks to reset.
The study found that when particular receptors in the liver were removed, the body clock does not function properly.
"Clearly these receptors are very important in setting the liver up in the right part of the clock cycle to accept and process nutrition and to regulate digestion," Prof Liddle said.
He said the discovery of the gene functions meant that drugs could now be developed to target those receptors and provide relief for people affected by disrupted circadian rhythms.
"We're potentially coming up not only with something that helps you when you travel or when you change shifts on shift work, but may be relevant to people with diabetes, obesity and related metabolic problems," he said.
The study, published in the journal Nature today, was led by a California-based research centre, the Salk Institute.