Association of obesity in shift workers with the minor allele of a single-nucleotide polymorphism (rs4851377) in the largest circadian clock gene (NPAS2)

ABSTRACT

A growing body of evidence has hinted at the involvement of the largest gene of the circadian clock family, NPAS2, in the regulatory mechanisms underlying the link between metabolic diseases and circadian rhythm disruption. We tested whether one of single-nucleotide polymorphisms in NPAS2 (rs4851377) is associated with obesity and alternations of sleep times in 126 male rotational shift workers (bus drivers). We confirmed positive association of Body Mass Index (BMI) with the difference between free and working days in sleep times, but this difference was smaller in the homozygotes for the minor allele. Moreover, BMI above 30 (obesity) was revealed in the majority of these homozygotes and in the minority of homozygotes for the major allele (11 of 21 or 52.4% and 3 of 40 or 7.5%, respectively). Further studies are required to replicate these results and to elucidate the mechanisms linking NPAS2ʹpolymorphism in with obesity in shift workers.

KEYWORDS:

• Rotating shift
• circadian disruption
• metabolism
• candidate gene
• single nucleotide polymorphism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Russian Foundation for Humanities [grant number 16-06-01054/17-ОГОН VBD, ANP, and GNA].