Latitudinal cline of chronotype

Autor(es)

Leocadio-Miguel, Mario Andre ; Louzada, Fernando Mazzili ; Duarte, Leandro Lourencao ; Areas, Roberta Peixoto ; Alam, Marilene ; Freire, Marcelo Ventura ; Fontenele-Araujo, John ; Menna-Barreto, Luiz ; Pedrazzoli, Mario

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: SCIENTIFIC REPORTS; v. 7, JUL 14 2017.
• Citações Web of Science: 13

Resumo

The rotation of the Earth around its own axis and around the sun determines the characteristics of the light/dark cycle, the most stable and ancient 24 h temporal cue for all organisms. Due to the tilt in the earth's axis in relation to the plane of the earth's orbit around the sun, sunlight reaches the Earth differentially depending on the latitude. The timing of circadian rhythms varies among individuals of a given population and biological and environmental factors underlie this variability. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that latitude is associated to the regulation of circadian rhythm in humans. We have studied chronotype profiles across latitudinal cline from around 0 degrees to 32 degrees South in Brazil in a sample of 12,884 volunteers living in the same time zone. The analysis of the results revealed that humans are sensitive to the different sunlight signals tied to differences in latitude, resulting in a morning to evening latitudinal cline of chronotypes towards higher latitudes. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 11/05804-5 - Caracterização fenotípica de ritmos circadianos em indivíduos com diferentes genótipos para polimorfismos nos genes relógio em diferentes regiões do Brasil: ênfase na investigação do gene PER3 e o efeito latitude
• Beneficiário: Mario Pedrazzoli Neto
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Regular