WASHINGTON: A study has found that abnormal sleep patterns disrupt the body’s natural biological clock and have been linked to lung health issues. The study was published in the journal, ‘Nature Communications’. Researchers have shown how a biological clock molecule, called REV-ERBa, contributes to lung scarring, uncovering new potential drugs and drug targets along the way. Pulmonary fibrosis, or lung scarring, is a serious condition in which connective tissue builds up in the lungs, making them thick and rigid, and causing difficulty breathing. While medications can ease the symptoms of pulmonary fibrosis, none can repair the lung damage caused by this sometimes-fatal disease.
It confirms a previously-discovered link between the body’s biological clock (or circadian rhythm) and lung diseases and uncovers a new mechanism underlying this link. Study authors show that a lack of the circadian rhythm protein, REV-ERBa, contributes to lung scarring in mice by increasing production of collagen, a major component of connective tissue, and lysyl oxidase, which stabilizes connective tissue and makes it more rigid.
The team, which was led by Irfan Rahman, PhD, Dean’s Professor of Environmental Medicine at URMC, found low levels of REV-ERBa and large amounts of collagen and lysyl oxidase in lung samples from patients with pulmonary fibrosis. (ANI)
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