Researchers discover how food feeds in the biological clock

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New research has shown that it's not just what you eat, but that when you eat, it's important, knowledge that could improve the health of shift workers and jet lag people.

The study funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC), published today in the journal Cell, is the first to identify insulin as a primary signal that helps communicate the timing of meals to cell clocks located in our body, commonly known as the biological clock.

The team responsible for the research think that this improved understanding could lead to new ways to relieve the health problems associated with disturbances of the biological clock. These could include eating at specific times or taking medications that target insulin signaling.

The biological clock – also called circadian rhythm – is a 24-hour biological cycle that occurs individually in every cell of the body, causing the daily rhythms of our physiology, from sleep to hormonal levels, to the response to medications . . Our biological clock is synchronized with the surrounding environment by exposure to the light of day and the time of meals. This synchrony is important for long-term health and it is well known that disrupting your circadian rhythm with shift work or traveling in multiple time zones can be detrimental to your health. Importantly, it is thought that eating at unusual times, as often happens during shift work and jet lag, is a major cause of disturbance of the body clock. However, previously, it was not clear how the body clock detects and responds to the rhythm of meals, making it difficult to provide medical advice or interventions that can alleviate the problem.

Researchers from the Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) of Cambridge and Manchester University of the MRC have now identified insulin as the main signal for communicating meal times to cellular clocks of our body and strengthening thus the circadian rhythm. The team's experiments on cells in culture, and replicated on mice, show that insulin, a hormone released when we eat, adjusts the circadian rhythms of many cells and tissues individually, stimulating production of a protein called PERIOD, an essential cog of the circadian system of every cell. l & # 39; clock.

Dr. John O'Neill, research director at MRC LMB and head of the Cambridge research team, said: "At the heart of these cell clocks lies a complex set of molecules whose interaction provides Precise timing over 24 hours What we have shown is that insulin, released when we eat, can act as a synchronization signal for the cells of our body. "

Working with Dr. David Bechtold, a senior lecturer at the University of Manchester, researchers found that insulin was administered to mice at the "wrong" biological moment – when animals were normally resting – she disrupted normal circadian rhythms, causing less distinction between day and night.

"We already know that modern society poses many problems for our health and well-being – things that are considered mundane, such as shift work, sleep deprivation and jet lag, disrupt our biological clock." It is clear that circadian disorders increase the incidence and severity of many diseases, including cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. "

Priya Crosby, researcher at MRC LMB and lead author of the study, said, "Our data suggests that eating at the wrong time could have a major impact on our circadian rhythms." There is still work to be done here, but Paying particular attention to mealtimes and exposure to light is probably the best way to mitigate the ill effects of shift work.Even for those who work in a more traditional way, be careful when eating is an important way to help maintain a healthy biological clock, especially as we age. "

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