Rare mutations in body clock receptors can cause diabetes
Tuesday 31st January 2012
When a person carries a receptor that alters their body clock they run the risk of contracting conditions such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease, according to research by a team at the Imperial College of London."
Previous studies had found that people who worked night shifts were at an increased risk of contracting these conditions. However, researchers at the college found that genetic mutations of the receptor for melatonin increase their chance of getting diseases.
A person's body clock, otherwise known as circadian rhythm, affects body temperature, blood pressure and hormone production amongst others.
The hormone melatonin controls a person's body clock and researchers believe that any of four rare mutations within this gene can increase the risk of disease.
Professor Philippe Froguel, from the college, said: "We found very rare variants of the MT2 gene that have a much larger effect than more common variants discovered before. Although each mutation is rare, they are common in the sense that everyone has a lot of very rare mutations in their DNA."
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Written by Angela Newbury
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