Lung condition linked to body clock

Tuesday December 31st, 2019

The circadian clock may have an effect on their risk of developing pulmonary fibrosis, researchers have reported.

A team led by Dr John Blaikley of The University of Manchester, UK, explain that the importance of the circadian clock in the development of fibrosis “remains poorly explored,", although it is known to control inflammatory responses in the lungs.

They analysed information from the UK Biobank to see if factors such as duration of sleep, chronotype, and shift work are linked to pulmonary fibrosis. This showed that people who regularly sleep for more than 11 hours or less than four hours are up to three times more likely than regular sleepers to develop pulmonary fibrosis.

Then in a separate database of human genetic samples, expression of the gene REVERB? was found to be increased in lung tissue with pulmonary fibrosis. REVERB? is described as “the core body clock protein”.

The researchers inhibited the gene REVERB?, which reduced pulmonary fibrosis, suggesting a potential “viable therapeutic approach”.

In addition, treatment for pulmonary fibrosis could include advice to alter sleep length or avoid shift work.

The study was published earlier this month in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Dr Blaikley said: “Pulmonary fibrosis is a devastating condition which is incurable at present. Therefore, the discovery that the body clock is potentially a key player potentially opens new ways to treat or prevent the condition.

“More work will need to be done around studying the association between pulmonary fibrosis and sleep duration to establish both causation and reproducibility. If these results are confirmed, then sleeping for the optimal time may reduce the impact of this devastating disease.”

Cunningham, P. S. et al. The circadian clock protein REVERB? inhibits pulmonary fibrosis development. PNAS 26 December 2019 doi: 10.1073/pnas.1912109117

https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2019/12/24/1912109117

Tags: Genetics | Respiratory | UK News

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