0020 Differentially Expressed Genes Using Saliva Samples from Nurses Rotating Shifts

Abstract

Abstract Introduction Globally, millions of people work night or rotating shifts (i.e., shift work), including nurses and other healthcare providers. Shift work can cause insufficient and mistimed sleep which disrupts the normal circadian rhythm. Shift work is associated with an increased risk for cardio-metabolic disorders and certain cancers. This descriptive, single group, within-subject, repeated-measures study explored the effect of shift work on gene expression levels in a sample of female nurses engaged in rotating shifts. Methods Saliva samples were collected from ten nurses without sleep or alertness medication use or a sleep disorder. The samples were collected using DNA Genotek RNA stabilizing saliva kits after participants worked at least 3 consecutive day shifts (~ 7:30 pm) and 3 consecutive night shifts (~7:30 am). Takara Smarter Stranded Total RNA Seq Kit was used following manufacturer’s instructions on an Illumina NextSeq500. CLC Genomic Workbench 12 (Qiagen) was used for quality control, aligning the sequence reads, normalization, and differential expression analyses. Genes with log2 fold changes of ± 2.0 were included in gene set enrichment and pathway analyses using Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA; Qiagen). Results Participants were all female, white, and mostly healthy with a mean ± SD age of 27.2 ± 4.5 years. Compared to the post-day shift samples, a total of 287 genes were differentially expressed at a log2 fold change of ± 2.0 in the post-night shift samples. The genes with the greatest increase in expression levels were: PRDX5, SLC7A5, FCGR1A, DNAJC7, PSMD4, and PER1. The genes with the greatest decrease in expression levels were: PPIP5K2, SCART1, CASP10, SLC24A4, and OSBP. Based on the IPA analyses, the differentially expressed genes play a role in gene expression, cell signaling, cell death and survival, and RNA damage and repair. Conclusion Significant differential gene expression in pathways associated with poor health were observed among female nurses engaged in rotating shifts. Potential molecular and cellular functions were identified that may be the mechanisms resulting in the increased health risks associated with shift work. Support University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing Center for Research and Evaluation Pilot/Feasibility Study Program