The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences Advance Access published online on October 27, 2009
The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, doi:10.1093/gerona/glp160
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Influence of Age on Clock Gene Expression in Peripheral Blood Cells of Healthy Women
1 Division of Clinical Pharmacology, Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Jichi Medical University, Shimotsuke, Japan
2 Department of Disease Control and Homeostasis, Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medical Science, Japan
3 Moka Hospital, Japan
4 LTA Clinical Pharmacology Center, Medical Co.LTA, Fukuoka, Japan
Address correspondence to Akio Fujimura, MD, PhD, Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Jichi Medical University, 3311-1 Yakushiji, Shimotsuke, Tochigi 329-0498, Japan. Email: akiofuji{at}jichi.ac.jp
| Abstract |
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Recent studies have demonstrated a close relationship between circadian clock function and the development of obesity and various age-related diseases. In this study, we investigated whether messenger RNA (mRNA) levels of clock genes are associated with age, body mass index, blood pressures, fasting plasma glucose, or shift work. Peripheral blood cells were obtained from 70 healthy women, including 25 shift workers, at approximately 9:00 AM. Transcript levels of clock genes (CLOCK, BMAL1, PER1, and PER3) were determined by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Stepwise multiple regression analysis demonstrated that BMAL1 mRNA levels were correlated only with age (β = –.50, p < .001). In contrast, PER3 levels were correlated with fasting plasma glucose (β = –.29, p < .05) and shift work (β = .31, p < .05). These results suggest that increased age, glucose intolerance, and irregular hours independently affect the intracellular clock in humans.
Keywords Aging; Biological clock; Circadian rhythm; Shift work
Received: June 9, 2009; Accepted: September 30, 2009