Entering the 21st century, the 24-hour society that demands convenience is advancing more and more, and the demand for shift workers (shift workers) who support it is also increasing.On the other hand, epidemiological studies have shown that shift work is a risk factor for cancer and lifestyle-related diseases.In particular, in a breeding study conducted in an environment where behavioral rhythms and environmental rhythms are constantly separated as an animal model for shift workers, it has been reported that the mortality rate of aged mice increases.Since this does not occur in young mice, it is considered to be a phenomenon associated with aging, and in Japan, where the opportunities for elderly people to engage in shift work are increasing with the advent of a longevity society, there are concerns about their occupational health.
This time, the research group at Kyoto University focused on the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the brain, which controls the 24-hour cycle circadian rhythm that exists in many of our physiological phenomena, and vasopressin used by many cells of SCN. We generated vasopressin receptor-deficient mice that inhibit neurotransmission.This mouse synchronizes the intrinsic rhythm with the light-dark rhythm of the environment under any time difference condition and shows no time difference symptoms. When bred in a chronic staggered environment where the light-dark rhythm advances for 5 hours every 8 days, the survival rate was significantly higher than that of wild-type mice.
Therefore, we conducted an experiment in which a drug that suppresses the action of the vasopressin receptor was continuously administered to SCN even in aged wild-type mice.As a result, we succeeded in increasing the survival rate in a chronic time zone environment.
This result is expected to accelerate drug discovery for the pathology of shift workers for which there has been no practical cure.
Paper information:[IScience] Vasopressin Signal Inhibition in Aged Mice Decreases Mortality under Chronic Jet Lag
