Circadian Clock in Mice controls by Sodium, New Study Reveals.
A new
research published this week in the journal Nature shows that injection of salt
mice (hypertonic saline) leads to activation of neurons in the suprachiasmatic
nucleus, the circadian master clock for the brain.
Our circadian
clock or circadian rhythm adapts the cells and organs of our body at various
times of the day to change requirements.
Circadian
rhythm disturbance due to jetlag or shift work may cause negative health
consequences.
Light the primary factor that regulates
our circadian clock is clearly defined, it was unclear whether or how
physiological factors could regulate the suprachiasmatic nucleus.
"With
our analysis we are the first to show that the physiological signals in the
suprachiasmatic heart can actually control clock times," said Professor
Charles Bourque, a researcher at the McGill University Health Center's research
center.
Professor
Bourque and PhD student Claire Gizowski of McGill University were shown to be
able to activate the circadian clock at a time of day when it is normally
quiet, with salt sensitive neurons located in one particular region of the
brain — the organum vasculosum of the lamina terminalis.
"This
means we can speed up the clock, which may be helpful to adapt faster to the
time change linked to long-term travel, or if the schedule of our work is shift
by several hours," said Gizowski.
The
scientists now hope to determine whether or not natural increases in blood
sodium – through eating – have the same effect and are occurring in humans.
"One
problem is that, while it is good and not dangerous to ingest small quantities
of salt, it is poisonous when ingested in large quantities," said Bourque.
"There
is far further research required to evaluate whether this result is healthy and
realistic for humans."
C. Gizowski
& C.W. Bourque. Sodium regulates clock time and output via an excitatory
GABAergic pathway. Nature, published online July 8, 2020; doi:
10.1038/s41586-020-2471-x
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