Circadian Regulation of Hormonal Timing and the Pathophysiology of Circadian Dysregulation

Sep 8, 2022Comprehensive Physiology

How the Body Clock Controls Hormone Timing and Its Role in Circadian Disorders

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Abstract

Circadian disruptions are linked to various health issues, including metabolic disease and heart disease.

Circadian rhythms are daily patterns that help regulate behavior and physiology.
The master circadian clock is located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the brain.
Light information received by the SCN helps synchronize the master clock with environmental time.
Circadian rhythms are maintained at the cellular level by feedback loops that regulate gene expression.
Disruptions in circadian timing may contribute to an increase in diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and mental health disorders.
Modern lifestyle factors, such as limited sunlight exposure and artificial light at night, can disrupt circadian rhythms.

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Circadian rhythms are endogenously generated, daily patterns of behavior and physiology that are essential for optimal health and disease prevention. Disruptions to circadian timing are associated with a host of maladies, including metabolic disease and obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and mental health disturbances. The circadian timing system is hierarchically organized, with a master circadian clock located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the anterior hypothalamus and subordinate clocks throughout the CNS and periphery. The SCN receives light information via a direct retinal pathway, synchronizing the master clock to environmental time. At the cellular level, circadian rhythms are ubiquitous, with rhythms generated by interlocking, autoregulatory transcription-translation feedback loops. At the level of the SCN, tight cellular coupling maintains rhythms even in the absence of environmental input. The SCN, in turn, communicates timing information via the autonomic nervous system and hormonal signaling. This signaling couples individual cellular oscillators at the tissue level in extra-SCN brain loci and the periphery and synchronizes subordinate clocks to external time. In the modern world, circadian disruption is widespread due to limited exposure to sunlight during the day, exposure to artificial light at night, and widespread use of light-emitting electronic devices, likely contributing to an increase in the prevalence, and the progression, of a host of disease states. The present overview focuses on the circadian control of endocrine secretions, the significance of rhythms within key endocrine axes for typical, homeostatic functioning, and implications for health and disease when dysregulated. © 2022 American Physiological Society. Compr Physiol 12: 1-30, 2022.

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Circadian Regulation of Hormonal Timing and the Pathophysiology of Circadian Dysregulation

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