News and Views

  • Lalitha V Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology, IGMC&RI, Pondicherry, INDIA.
Keywords: Nil

Abstract

Fat cells in the body have their own biological clocks and they exhibit circadian rhythms affecting various metabolic functions. Circadian rhythms are approximately 24 hour changes governed by the body’s internal clock. Imbalance between the human clock and the environment is believed to be one of the major contributor of obesity. Jonathan et al conducted several experiments on human fat cells and analyzed the circadian rhythm of the fat cells and their gene expressions were studied.[1] Researchers have identified 727 genes in the fat tissue that express their own circadian rhythm. A clear separation in gene rhythms was identified with approximately a third peaking in the morning and two thirds in the evening. Morning-peaking transcripts were associated with regulation of gene expression and nucleic acid biology while the evening –peaking transcripts were associated with redox activity and acid metabolism. These rhythms clearly show that genes within fat cells naturally complete their functions at different times during the day which could impact on their metabolic processes. Hence, fat cells don’t just store the excess energy but they are active metabolic tissues, full of their own rhythms.[1]

News and Views
Published
2019-03-06
How to Cite
V, L. (2019). News and Views. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Physiology, 5(4), 219. https://doi.org/10.5530/ijcep.2018.5.4.27