“Irregular Sleep Patterns Linked to Fatal Lung Disease, New Research Finds”

Text / Lian Peiyu / NOW Health

Irregular sleep schedules can lead to deadly lung disease, new research finds. The study, published in Nature Communications, suggests that irregular sleep patterns can adversely affect the body’s biological clock, leading to lung scarring or pulmonary fibrosis, a potential Fatal disease in which connective tissue builds up in the lungs and hardens, making breathing difficult.

Lack of REV-ERBα in humans may lead to pulmonary fibrosis

REV-ERBα is related to the biological clock. It is a circadian protein that regulates collagen production in the body. Once REV-ERBα is deficient in the body, it will promote collagen production, which in turn will harden lung tissue and eventually lead to fibrosis.

According to the Hindustan Times, a research team led by Dr. Irfan Rahman, Dean and Professor of Environmental Medicine at Rochester Medical Center, found that in samples of pulmonary fibrosis, REV-ERBα The concentration is low, while the concentration of collagen (the main component of connective tissue) and lysine oxidase (which stabilizes connective tissue and makes it firmer) is higher.

Increased risk of pulmonary fibrosis when working night shifts!Experts have worked to develop new drugs to prevent

The researchers pointed out that in mouse model studies, REV-ERBα in mice fluctuated throughout the day, peaked at noon, and decreased at night. When the team induced lung injury in mice at night, they found that the mice had greater increases in lysine oxidase and collagen, more extensive lung injury, and lower survival rates than mice injured in the morning.

Irfan Rahman said that night shift workers are at greater risk of suffering from this disease, because night shift workers are usually awake at midnight, when the concentration of REV-ERBα is the lowest, and according to the research results, if REV-ERBα is at Nocturnal operation has a relatively small protective effect on pulmonary fibrosis.

Qixin Wang, a postdoctoral researcher in Rahman’s lab, said there is a lack of drugs on the market to treat pulmonary fibrosis, and through this new study, scientists are working to develop new drugs to treat the lung disease. At present, there are only two drugs approved by the FDA for the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis, but they can only delay the progress and cannot completely cure the disease, and related drugs that activate REV-ERBα may be used as potential therapeutic drugs in the future to help Prevent pulmonary fibrosis and delay disease progression.