Connections Between Circadian And Metabolic Systems Described

"A paper by University of Notre Dame biologist Giles Duffield and a team of researchers offers new insights into a gene that plays a key role in modulating the body's Circadian system and may also simultaneously modulate its metabolic system. The relationship between circadian and metabolic systems the researchers describe could have important implications for understanding the higher incidence of cardiovascular disease, obesity and diabetes among shift workers...

Not only did the knockout mice have abnormal time-of-day specific changes in the pattern of gene activity, they also exhibited profound physiological changes. The mutant mice were lean, had smaller quantities of white fat stored in their abdomen and far less fat droplets in the liver itself."