Exosomal miR-92a Concentration in the Serum of Shift Workers

Massimo Bracci,Lory Santarelli,Maria Fiorella Tartaglione,Venerando Rapisarda,Maria Eléxpuru Zabaleta,Caterina Ledda

doi:10.3390/app10020430

Massimo Bracci, Lory Santarelli + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/app10020430

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Abstract

Shift work is associated with alterations in the human biological clock and metabolism. Serum exosomal miR-92a concentration was inversely correlated with brown adipose tissue activity playing a pivotal role in energy balance. In this study, miR-92a was measured in serum exosomes of 30 workers engaged in shift and daytime work. No significant metabolic alterations were shown between daytime and shift workers while a difference in serum exosomal miR-92a levels was found between the two groups. The lower levels of miR-92a in shift workers were suggestive of a higher brown adipose tissue activity compared with daytime workers. However, the possibility that other physiological and pathological processes may influence miR-92a cannot be ruled out. Our results suggest further investigations on brown adipose tissue activity and on miR-92a regulatory mechanisms, such as those related to the estrogen pathway, in shift workers.

Highlights

Working on a shift work schedule implies that some daily habits, such as sleeping or eating, are not conducted with regular occurrence [1] resulting in a possible desynchronization between external and biological times [2]
None of the SW nurses had changed the type of schedule from the beginning of the work as evidenced by the same values of job seniority and shift work seniority
No significant difference was found in chronotype (MEQ score), sleep quality (PSQI score), and daytime sleepiness (ESS score) between DT and SW nurses

Summary

Introduction

Working on a shift work schedule implies that some daily habits, such as sleeping or eating, are not conducted with regular occurrence [1] resulting in a possible desynchronization between external and biological times [2]. Epidemiological studies associated shift work with an increased incidence of metabolic syndrome [6,7] that, in turn, is an important cardiovascular risk factor [8,9]. Since alterations of metabolic parameters and weight gain in shift workers do not seem to be associated with low physical activity or increased food intake [5,10], it is likely that there are other factors that may influence energy balance. In the last few decades, brown adipose tissue (BAT) has regained scientific and public interest for its role in metabolism and weight gain [11,12,13,14,15,16]. An inverse relationship between active BAT and body mass index (BMI) has been discovered [25]

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