Not following an everyday sleep schedule may end up in deadly lung diseases, a recent study has found.

The study, published within the journal Nature Communications, noted that irregular sleeping patterns can adversely affect the body’s natural biological clock (also referred to as the circadian clock), which might result in lung scarring or pulmonary fibrosis, a potentially deadly disease wherein connective tissue builds up within the lungs, hardening them and causing respiratory difficulties.

It comes right down to a protein related to the circadian clock called REV-ERBα, a circadian rhythm protein that regulates collagen production within the body. Lack of REV-ERBα can assist boost collagen production which, in turn, may cause the hardening of lung tissues and eventually fibrosis.

The team behind the study, led by Irfan Rahman, Ph.D., Dean’s Professor of Environmental Medicine on the University of Rochester Medical Center, found low levels of REV-ERBα and increased levels of collagen and lysyl oxidase in lung samples of pulmonary fibrosis patients, in keeping with Hindustan Times.

In a mouse model study, researchers found that the REV-ERBα fluctuates throughout the day, peaking within the noon time and dropping through the night. When dealt an injury at night, mice models showed larger increases in lysyl oxidase and collagen proteins, wider lung damage and lower survival rates in comparison with mice harmed through the daytime.

Rahman said night-shift employees are more vulnerable to the condition. “Night-shift work normally occurs around midnight, when the expression of REV-ERBα is at its lowest,” he explained. “Our findings suggest that REV-ERBα activation at night provides less protection against lung fibrosis.”

Qixin Wang, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow working in Rahman’s lab, said within the study that the market lacks enough fibrosis medications, and with the brand new study, scientists are aiming to develop recent drugs to raised treat the lung condition.

“Currently, there are only two drugs approved by the FDA to treat fibrosis, they usually only delay the method, they do not cure the disease,” Wang said. “REV-ERBα-activating drugs could function potential therapeutics to assist prevent fibrosis and stop the disease process.”

The fundamental features of autoimmune lung disease are inflammation and scarring.
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