Circadian rhythm disorder is a common society issue caused by jet lag,shift work,sleep disruption and changes in food consumption. Light is the major factor affecting the circadian rhythm system. Disruption of the circadian rhythm system can cause damage to the body,leading to some diseases. Maintaining a normal circadian system is of great importance for good health. Ideal therapeutic effect can not only alleviate symptoms of the diseases,but also recovery the disturbed circadian rhythm to normal. The paper summarizes the modeling methods of animal circadian rhythm disorder,diseases of circadian rhythm abnormality,regulation of circadian clock genes and medicine which are related to circadian rhythm to diseases of circadian rhythm disorder.
Animals ; Circadian Rhythm/genetics* ; Humans ; Jet Lag Syndrome/genetics* ; Sleep ; Sleep Disorders, Circadian Rhythm

Smith-Magenis syndrome (SMS) (OMIM #182290) is a rare genetic disorder with a prevalence of 1 in 25 000 live births. Approximately 90% of SMS patients have harbored a 3.7 Mb interstitial 17p11.2 deletion involving the RAI1 gene, while 10% of cases have carried pathogenic variants of the RAI1 gene. SMS is characterized by sleep disturbance, intellectual impairment, developmental delay, craniofacial and cardiovascular anomalies, obesity, self injury, aggressive and autistic-like behaviors. Most SMS patients have sleep disorders such as short total sleep time, frequent night waking, short sleep onset, and early morning waking. The sleep disturbance may aggravate with age and persist throughout life. Three mechanisms have been delineated. The first concern was the abnormal secretion of melatonin, with high levels during daytime and low levels at night. Evaluation of the integrity of the intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cell (ipRGC)/melanopsin system has found that SMS patients showed dysfunction in the sustained component of the pupillary light responses to blue light. Synchronization of daily melatonin profile and its photoinhibition are dependent on the activation of melanopsin. Dysfunction of the retina-melanin system may be one of the causes of melatonin spectrum disorders. Secondly, dysregulation of circadian rhythm gene expression has also been noted in mice and SMS patients. Finally, there may be association between sleep deprivation symptoms and DNA methylation patterns, which has provided new insights for SMS-associated sleep disorders and symptoms alike. Treatment for SMS-related sleep disorders is administered primarily through medications like melatonin tablets, which can alleviate insomnia-related sleep difficulties, in particular externalizing behavior in children. Researchers are also actively exploring other treatments for SMS currently.
Animals ; Circadian Rhythm ; Humans ; Melatonin ; Mice ; Sleep ; Sleep Wake Disorders/genetics* ; Smith-Magenis Syndrome/genetics*

Antidepressants usually require 2–8 weeks after drug administration to obtain a clinical response. In contrast, three fast-acting antidepressant treatments (sleep deprivation, electroconvulsive therapy, and ketamine) significantly reduced depressive symptoms within hours to days in a subgroup of patients with depressive disorder. This review addresses the mechanisms underlying these fast effects, with specific focus on treatment effects on circadian rhythms. Numerous recent studies have shown that circadian dysregulation may play an important role in the pathogenesis of mood disorders. These studies indicate that a common therapeutic mechanism underlying the three fast antidepressant therapies is related to circadian rhythm. Evidence suggests that depressive disorder is associated with circadian rhythm delay and that the mechanism of the antidepressant effect is a process in which the delayed circadian rhythm is restored to normal by the treatment.
Antidepressive Agents ; Chronobiology Disorders ; Circadian Rhythm ; Depression ; Depressive Disorder ; Electroconvulsive Therapy ; Humans ; Ketamine ; Mood Disorders ; Sleep Deprivation

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Shift work disrupts the body's circadian rhythms and increases the risk of health problems. Despite evidence of neuropsychological disturbances in shift workers (SW), the brain functional status as measured by brain perfusion in chronic shift work has not been evaluated previously. We investigated the regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in SW using perfusion MRI (pMRI) and evaluated the relationships between altered rCBF and sleep, mood, psychometric measures, and quality of life. METHODS: Fifteen rotational SW and 15 day workers (DW) were enrolled. The participants were all female nurses working at a university-affiliated hospital. During 2 weeks of actigraphy they underwent pMRI scanning and psychometric testing on the last day immediately after working. Demographic characteristics, insomnia, daytime sleepiness, and mood were compared between the groups. RESULTS: The participants were aged 35.3±2.9 years (mean±SD) and had been performing their current work for more than 2 years. The demographic characteristics did not differ between SW and DW, but the levels of insomnia, anxiety, depression, and hyperactivity-restlessness in psychometric measures were higher in SW than in DW. Cerebral perfusion in SW was significantly decreased in the cuneus, fusiform/parahippocampal gyri, and cerebellum of the right hemisphere, while it was increased in the inferior occipital gyrus of the left hemisphere. Perfusion changes in SW were significantly correlated with depression and insomnia severity. The onset and duration irregularity of sleep among SW were related to insomnia, mood, hyperactivity/ restlessness, and quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: SW experience considerably more insomnia and mood disturbances than do DW, and this is significantly related to perfusion changes in multiple brain areas.
Actigraphy ; Anxiety ; Brain ; Cerebellum ; Cerebrovascular Circulation ; Circadian Rhythm ; Depression ; Female ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Angiography ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Occipital Lobe ; Perfusion ; Psychometrics ; Psychomotor Agitation ; Quality of Life ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate psychometric properties of the Munich ChronoType Questionnaire (MCTQ) in a sample of Korean older adults. METHODS: One-hundred ninety two participants aged 65 and over completed interview-based questionnaires about chronotype, insomnia, depression, and anxiety. Additionally, a small subset of subjects completed a 7-day sleep diary and actigraphy measurements. RESULTS: Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ) scores were significantly negatively correlated with Midpoint of sleep on free days corrected for sleep debt accumulated through weekdays (MSFsc) (r=-0.45, p < 0.01) assessed by the MCTQ. MSFsc using the MCTQ was significantly positively correlated with MSFsc assessed by both the sleep diary (r=0.74, p < 0.05) and actigraphy (r=0.76, p < 0.05). Additionally, MSFsc assessed by the MCTQ was significantly positively correlated with insomnia (r=0.26, p < 0.01), depression (r=0.25, p < 0.01), and anxiety (r=0.18, p < 0.05). Finally, based on MEQ scores, we derived a cut-off score for the MCTQ that distinguishes morning type and other types (intermediate/evening types) in older adults. CONCLUSION: The results of these studies supported the validity of the MCTQ in Korean older adults. Additionally, while sleep rhythms in elder adults may be more advanced, eveningness tendency may be still important and indicative of sleep and psychological disturbance.
Actigraphy ; Adult* ; Anxiety ; Circadian Rhythm ; Depression ; Geriatric Assessment ; Geriatric Psychiatry ; Humans ; Psychometrics ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders ; Sleep Wake Disorders

PURPOSE: This study aimed to develop and test a structural model for sleep quality in female shift work nurses. The hypothetical model was constructed on the basis of Spielman's 3P model of insomnia and previous research related to the sleep quality of shift nurses. METHODS: This cross-sectional study used structural equation modeling and recruited 285 female shift work nurses from four general and university hospitals with over 300 beds located in C and J cities in Gyeongsangnamdo. Data were collected from September 27 to October 20, 2016, and then analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation, and structural equation modeling. The study used SPSS/Win 18.0 and AMOS 18.0 in processing the data. RESULTS: The final model showed good fit to the empirical data: χ2/df=2.19, SRMR=.07, RMSEA=.07, AGFI=.85, TLI=.91, GFI=.93, GFI=.89, NFI=.87. The factors that influenced sleep quality were sleep hygiene (β=.32), perceived shift work status (β=−.16), stress response (β=.16), shift work experience (β=.15), perceived health status (β=−.14), and circadian rhythm (β=−.13) explaining 36.0% of the variance. CONCLUSION: The model of sleep quality of the shift work nurses constructed in this study is recommended as a model to understand and predict the sleep quality of shift work nurses. The results suggest that strategies for improving the sleep quality of shift work nurses should focus on sleep hygiene, perceived health status, stress response, circadian rhythm, perceived shift work status, and shift work experience.
Circadian Rhythm ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Female* ; Gyeongsangnam-do ; Hospitals, University ; Humans ; Hygiene ; Models, Structural ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders ; Stress, Psychological

OBJECTIVES: It is a paradox that sleep technicians are at risk of shift work sleep disorder to help diagnose other people's sleep disorder. Until now, there have been no guidelines for scheduling shifts for sleep technicians. The purpose of this study was to survey the current shift schedule of sleep technicians. METHODS: We performed a nationwide survey of work schedules for sleep laboratories. We sent email questionnaires to sleep technicians working in university-affiliated hospitals. Information regarding starting time and duration of shift, duty on-duty off pattern for the past month, and rotation and number of sleep technicians in the sleep labs were collected. RESULTS: We received responses from 29 sleep labs. Among the 25 labs which had designated sleep technicians, three labs had night shift schedules mixed with day work on a weekly basis and the remaining 22 labs had night only shift schedule. In cases of night only shift schedules, 11 labs alternated from night shift to day shift works or vice versa every 3 months to 3 years, while the remaining 11 labs had fixed schedules without daytime rotation. Number of night shift was four or less per week, with shift durations of 9–19 hours. CONCLUSIONS: The current policies regarding scheduling shifts varied vastly depending on individual sleep labs. We found that some labs had shift schedules with long work time, quick returns, or permanent night shifts, which are generally not recommended. Further studies are needed to develop consensus guidelines for scheduling shift of sleep technicians.
Appointments and Schedules ; Consensus ; Electronic Mail ; Korea ; Sleep Disorders, Circadian Rhythm ; Sleep Wake Disorders

Sleep disturbances such as insomnia, hypersomnia, and circadian rhythm disturbance are common in normal elderly and Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. To date, special attention has been paid to sleep disturbance in the clinical course of AD insofar as the interaction of sleep disturbance with the pathogenesis of AD may impact the clinical course and cognitive function of AD patients. This review covers the bidirectional relationship between sleep disturbance and AD pathogenesis; the associations between sleep disturbance and AD-specific neurotransmitters, brain structure, and aspects of sleep disturbance in each phase of AD; and the effects of sleep disturbance on the cognitive functions of patients in each phase of AD. We consider several factors required to exactly interpret the results and suggest a direction for future studies on the role of sleep disturbance in AD.
Aged ; Aging ; Alzheimer Disease* ; Amyloid beta-Peptides ; Brain ; Circadian Rhythm ; Cognition ; Disorders of Excessive Somnolence ; Humans ; Mild Cognitive Impairment ; Neurotransmitter Agents ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders

Changes in core body temperature are closely related to initiation and maintenance of sleep, and are influenced by various factors such as air temperature, room temperature, clothing, human activities, and medications. These factors are closely related to sleep fragments, insomnia and other sleep disorders. Understanding the effect of the temperature related to human surroundings on the core body temperature and sleep, will be useful for understanding the physiology of sleep and to treat sleep disorders.
Body Temperature ; Circadian Rhythm ; Clothing ; Human Activities ; Humans ; Physiology ; Sleep Disorders ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders

PURPOSE: This study was an experimental study to compare the inhalation effects of aroma essential oil on the quality of sleep (QOS) for shift nurses after working nights. METHODS: The participants were 60 healthy adults who didn't have any disease. As an experimental treatment, the participants in the experimental group were asked to inhale essential oil for 3 minutes at a distance of approximately 10 cm fromt heir nose and then they were asked to sleep with the aroma stone beside their head (within a 30 cm distance). QOS were measured four times on Pretest, Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3 after they slept. To measure QOS, Perceived QOS (Numeric Rating Scale), the Verran & Synder-Halpern (VSH) Sleep Scale were used, and number of awakenings (NoA) was measured by Actigraph. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in the homogeneity tests for general characteristics and dependent variables prior to the experiments, except for VSH of subjective sleep quality. Also, there was no significant interaction between group and time. The VSH of the experimental group was higher than the control group (F=6.39, p=.002). The NoA between the experimental group and the control group was significantly different after experimental treatment 3rd day (F=13.35, p=.001). CONCLUSION: The findings show that the inhalation of aroma essential oil had effects to increase the quality of sleep. Therefore, the inhalation of aroma essential oil could be applied to general nursing interventions to improve the quality of sleep.
Adult ; Aromatherapy ; Head ; Humans ; Inhalation* ; Lavandula ; Nose ; Nursing ; Sleep Disorders, Circadian Rhythm