There are a number of biological clocks working in our body, all controlled and coordinated by a central clock inside the brain. These clocks are the ones that trigger hormones that make us feel sleepy, or keep us awake, signal hunger and so on, as per our circadian rhythms. It has recently been discovered by scientists that muscles have circadian rhythms too, disturbance to which could be dangerous as it may lead to the development of diabetes.
There are biological clocks in our muscles too.
HIGHLIGHTS
- There are biological clocks in our body that guide our sleep, hunger
- Research reveals presence of biological clocks in our muscles.
- Disturbance to these clocks could affect lipid comp, lead to diabetes.
It has recently been discovered by scientists that muscles have circadian rhythms too, disturbance to which could be dangerous as it may lead to the development of diabetes.
Researchers from the University of Geneva, Switzerland, along with experts from the University of Bath, the Université Claude Bernard in Lyon, the University of Surrey, and the Nestlé Institute of Health Sciences, found that levels of various types of fats called lipids in muscle cells varied at different times of the day.
An experiment was conducted to figure out whether the muscle circadian clocks regulate these lipid levels.
The volunteers were asked to stick to a fixed daily routine of eating and sleeping for one whole week before the experiment, this helped sync their circadian rhythms. Then, small samples of their thigh muscle tissue was extracted for analysing its lipid composition. A clear correlation was found out between the lipid composition in cells and the time of the day.
It was further found that disturbing the clocks in muscles could lead to considerable changes in cells' muscle composition, and therefore could affect the muscle's sensitivity to insulin and its ability to take in blood sugar, this could lead to the development of type-2 diabetes in the subject.
The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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