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Abstract
Chronic night shift work is associated with disrupted circadian rhythms, particularly in cortisol and circadian gene expressions.
- Day shift nurses exhibited aligned 24-hour rhythms of cortisol and melatonin with peak values in the morning.
- Night shift nurses lost the normal 24-hour rhythmicity of cortisol, resulting in a suppressed morning surge.
- Melatonin rhythms remained normal in night shift nurses, leading to a misalignment between cortisol and melatonin.
- Disruption of rhythmic expressions of peripheral circadian genes (PER2, PER3, BMAL1, and ESR2) was observed in night shift nurses.
- An impaired correlation between PER2 and BMAL1 was found in night shift nurses compared to their day shift counterparts.
- Morning plasma cortisol and expressions of PER2, BMAL1, and ESR2 may serve as potential biomarkers for circadian disruption in shift workers.
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