Abstract
Circadian disruption is associated with sleep, mood, and metabolic disorders, and—according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer—even with cancer. Mechanistically, the source of disease may be circadian system instability which likely arises during development. In animal experiments, both low perinatal light:dark ratios and chronic perinatal photoperiod phase shifting yield enduring, detrimental effects on neuroendocrine physiology via circadian system instability. Certainly, accumulating disturbances to neuroendocrine physiology and detrimental downstream effects could predispose to internal cancers. Epidemiologically, either season of birth or latitude of birth, both of which co-determine perinatal photoperiod-zeitgeber strengths, have been utilized independently as proxies for other environmental co-etiologies of cancer. Both have been independently associated with cancer; however, the evidence is inconclusive. We hypothesize that time of birth and location of birth, together determining perinatal photoperiod, contribute to cancer development through Perinatal Light Imprinting of Circadian Clocks and Systems.
Highlights
Plants and animals match their physiology and behavior to the 24-h solar photoperiod
An abrupt circadian disruption such as a trans-meridian flight, whereby the endogenously anticipated photoperiod dramatically changes, has perceptible effects on physiology which we know as jet-lag, and it can take several days for our internal time to re-align with external time
Recent studies have shown that perinatal light environments affect how adult mouse and rat circadian behaviour is shaped by different photoperiods and, further, that perinatal photoperiod challenges that abruptly disrupt and phase shift endogenous circadian rhythms cause neuroendocrine and metabolic derangement in adulthood in Wistar rats
Summary
Plants and animals match their physiology and behavior to the 24-h solar photoperiod. Recent studies have shown that perinatal light environments affect how adult mouse and rat circadian behaviour is shaped by different photoperiods and, further, that perinatal photoperiod challenges that abruptly disrupt and phase shift endogenous circadian rhythms cause neuroendocrine and metabolic derangement in adulthood in Wistar rats. These changes are observed despite being maintained on controlled lighting schedules for the 12 months and some are sex dependent [2, 10,11,12,13,14]. In agreement with the concepts of “environmental imprinting of the mammalian circadian clock and its response to subsequent seasonal change under seasonal light cycles” by Ciarleglio et al [4] and “increased vulnerability to circadian disruption” by Ohta et al [5], Perinatal Light Imprinting of Circadian Clocks and Systems (PLICCS) results in higher or lower susceptibilities to exogenous and endogenous circadian challenges later in life which may result in sex-dependent differences in neuroendocrine, metabolic, and growth disruption, and potentially different types of internal cancer
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