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Access through your institution Buy or subscribe The dysregulation of circadian rhythms is associated with an increased risk of metabolic disorders, such as insulin resistance. Shift
workers, jet travellers and individuals with social jet lag are all at risk of circadian dysrhythmia — in short, their body’s clock is out of sync with the clock on the wall. Over the past
decade, researchers have sought to develop methods that can accurately measure the body’s internal clock. Now, John Hogenesch and colleagues report the discovery of a single-time point gene
set that can accurately report circadian phase to a 3 h window. “Knowing a person’s circadian phase can help diagnose sleep disorders,” explains Hogenesch, corresponding author on the study.
“Furthermore, for almost 50 years we’ve known that timing the delivery of therapies, drugs, vaccines and surgery in accordance with the body’s circadian clock can improve health outcomes.”
Currently, however, the most accurate way of measuring an individual’s internal clock is to use a dim-light melatonin onset (DLMO) assay. This technique is difficult to conduct as it
involves placing a participant in a dark room and collecting a saliva sample from them every 30 minutes over the course of a day. This is a preview of subscription content, access via your
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Instant access to full article PDF Buy now Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout ADDITIONAL ACCESS OPTIONS: * Log in * Learn about institutional
subscriptions * Read our FAQs * Contact customer support REFERENCES ORIGINAL ARTICLE * Wu, G. et al. Population-level rhythms in human skin with implications for circadian medicine. _Proc.
Natl Acad. Sci. USA_ https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1809442115 (2018) Article PubMed Google Scholar Download references AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Nature Reviews
Endocrinology http://www.nature.com/nrendo/ Alan Morris Authors * Alan Morris View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Correspondence to Alan Morris. RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Morris, A. Rhythms found in skin. _Nat Rev Endocrinol_ 15, 3 (2019).
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-018-0135-9 Download citation * Published: 27 November 2018 * Issue Date: January 2019 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-018-0135-9 SHARE THIS ARTICLE
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