Our body has a clock that follows Circadian rhythm which is defined as a physical, mental and behavioural change that follows a roughly 24-hour cycle, responding primarily to light and darkness in our environment.Disruption to this can be detrimental to health, causing sleep disorders and other problems.
It had been proved by studies that were done earlier that sleep and anxiety disorders are the two factors associated with dysfunction of the body’s internal clock.
But in a recent development, a new study has established a new way to control the internal clock by targeting a protein that regulates it, opening the door to new treatments for such disorders.
The study team from St. Louis University in Missouri, led by Thomas Burris, PhD, chair of pharmacological and physiological science have published their findings in the journal Nature Communications.
According to the researchers of this recent study there had been a past research which showed that a protein called REV-ERB plays an important part in regulating the internal clock of mammals.
They hence decided to check as to how compounds that target this protein affect circadian rhythm.
Their study involved the testing of a synthetic drug-like molecule called SR9011 on mice with dysfunctional circadian rhythms that possessed anxious behavior which is responsible for activating the REV-ERB protein.
During the study the team found that the drug increased wakefulness in the mice and reduced REM (rapid eye movement) and slow-wave sleep. More importantly it was observed that SR9011 was also responsible at reducing anxiety and reward-seeking behavior.
Usually the drugs that increase wakefulness usually increase anxiety, while those that reduce anxiety tend to reduce wakefulness.But Dr. Burris and colleagues say their findings are interesting, and are distinct from these pathways .They noted that “the pharmacological profile of REV-ERB agonists and their ability to target the clock appear to be distinct from these pathways.”
The team feels that this finding may led to a probable treatment in the form of SR9011 for both sleep and anxiety disorders. Also since SR9011 was found to decrease reward-seeking behavior, the researchers believe the drug could also be effective in treating addition.
Researchers explain that “Drug addiction clearly has a circadian component, and mice with mutations in clock genes – such as Per1, Per2, Clock and Npas2 – have altered responsiveness to the reward associated with cocaine, morphine and/or alcohol.”
They further added that “Thus, it is quite reasonable to expect that a small-molecule regulator of the clock would modulate reward-seeking behavior.”
While expressing these views on their overall findings, the team said:
“With recent chemical biology approaches, it has become possible to target certain components of the clock and begin to investigate whether pharmacological modulation of clock function and the circadian rhythm may offer an approach to treat human disease.
In summary, our data indicate that pharmacological targeting of the clock holds promise for treatment of disorders associated with anxiety and sleep disorders, as well as addiction.”
Burris and colleagues feel that further research is warranted to determine the effectiveness of SR9011 in humans.
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About Ruchira Dhoke
A qualified medical microbiologist with an avidity to read enchant a deep passion for creating a good impacting masterpiece with my words .I am very fond of good old English literature and like listening to music and paint in my free time.
