Endocrine Abstracts

Circadian rhythms are such an innate part of our lives that we rarely pause to speculate why they even exist. Some studies have suggested that the disruption of the circadian system may be causal for obesity and manifestations of metabolic syndrome (MetS). Shift-work, sleep-deprivation and bright-light-exposure at night are related to increased adiposity (obesity) and prevalence of MetS. It has been provided evidence of clock genes expression in human adipose tissue and demons...

Under non-stressed conditions adrenal glucocorticoid (GC) secretion shows strong circadian rhythms with blood levels peaking around wake-up time (i.e. in the morning in humans and at the beginning of the night in nocturnal rodents). These diurnal variations are primarily regulated by rhythmic activation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis and the secretion of ACTH from the pituitary. While circadian HPA axis activity is ultimately controlled by the circa...

Abstract unavailable....