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Sleep disorder? Scientists discover
better drugs
Tuesday April 10, 2012 09:54:50 AM,
IANS
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Washington:
The discovery of cellular switches in the bio-clock that tells the
body when to sleep and metabolise food may lead to new drugs to
treat sleep problems and metabolic disorders, including diabetes.
Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, led by
Ronald M. Evans, professor in its Gene Expression Lab, showed that
two cellular switches found on the nucleus of mouse cells, known
as REV-ERBa and REV-ERBß, are essential for maintaining normal
sleeping and eating cycles and for metabolism of nutrients from
food.
The findings describe a powerful link between circadian rhythms
and metabolism and suggest a new avenue for treating disorders of
both systems, including jet lag, sleep disorders, obesity and
diabetes, the journal Nature reported.
"This fundamentally changes our knowledge about the workings of
the circadian clock and how it orchestrates our sleep-wake cycles,
when we eat and even the times our bodies metabolize nutrients,"
said Evans, according to a university statement.
"Nuclear (pertaining to nucleus) receptors can be targeted with
drugs, which suggests we might be able to target REV-ERBa and ß to
treat disorders of sleep and metabolism," added Evans.
Nurses, emergency personnel and others who work shifts that alter
the normal 24-hour cycle of waking and sleeping are at much higher
risk for a number of diseases, including metabolic disorders such
as diabetes.
In mammals, the circadian timing system is orchestrated by a
central clock in the brain and subsidiary clocks in most other
organs. The master clock in the brain is set by light and
determines the overall diurnal or nocturnal preference of an
animal, including sleep-wake cycles and feeding behaviour.
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