There are clear interactions between chronic alcohol consumption and circadian rhythmicity that is regulated by several circadian clock
genes.
Chronic alcohol consumption is associated with a destruction of normal circadian clock gene expression. This altered expression is closely related to circadian rhythm dysfunction and might link to a variety of physiological problems, such as sleep/wake cycle dysregulation, depression, and even cancer, new research
reports.
This indicates that alcoholics have lower levels of circadian clock gene production (or what researchers call "expression"), according to the study published online and in the November print issue of the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.
After 1 week of alcohol detoxification, there were very limited restorations of discrete circadian gene
expressions.
Source
National Center for Biotechnology
Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine
(MDN)
|