Title : Why Your Genes Know Exactly What Season It Is
link : Why Your Genes Know Exactly What Season It Is
Why Your Genes Know Exactly What Season It Is
by Clare Wilsonpreventing disease
The winter of our discontent can be up to our genes. Not only have more coughs and colds in cold and rainy months, there are more heart attacks and diagnosis of autoimmune diseases such as Type 1 diabetes. Now we know why.
The activity of some of our genes varies with the seasons throughout the year. The discovery comes from an analysis of blood samples from more than 16,000 people in both hemispheres. The most striking pattern was that 147 genes involved in the immune system made more reactive or "pro-inflammatory" during winter or rainy season, probably to combat the onslaught of cold viruses and flu.
"This could explain why some people with underlying disease, winter can be the turning point," he says Derek Gilroy , of University College London, who was not involved in the investigation.
excess inflammation notes, however, we do not know if the immune system becomes more reactive in winter as a result of infection, or if naturally prepares for action as part of an annual cycle.
However, this change in activity appears to have undesirable effects in elimination. In the UK, for example, deaths from heart disease increased by 20 percent in the winter months. Explanations for this include the direct effects of respiratory cold infections, or putting more strain on the heart. However, inflammation is increasingly implicated in heart disease, autoimmune diseases and many other conditions.
The research team stumbled upon the latest discovery when they were searching the gene activity - measured by the levels of messenger RNA in blood cells -. in samples of German babies, to try to identify risk factors for type 1, which usually develops in childhood diabetes
Many of our genes change their activity in the course of a day , probably to orchestrate our levels of the sleep cycle and energy. Because blood samples were taken from the German children every three months for five years, the team wondered if they would find seasonal changes in gene activity.
Babies proved to be ideal for answer the question, says John Todd, University of Cambridge, one of the study authors. "Their lives are not complicated by shift work or long distance travel."
About a quarter of the approximately 23,000 genes analyzed had different activity in winter and summer, with increased immune reactivity in winter the only obvious pattern to emerge.
Head for the sun
the team observed data from thousands of blood samples from other studies. The same pattern occurred in adults in the UK, US, Ireland, Australia and, to a lesser extent, Iceland. "It was fun to discover something in available data sets," says Todd.
In Gambia, West Africa, by contrast, the immune system of people became more reactive during the rainy season, from June to October, when infectious diseases peak in that region.
Todd says that future studies of gene activity, the genes of the immune system, especially, should take into account the time of year.
it is considered that the findings suggest we should also pay attention to our health more closely in winter, taking care to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, for example. "If swapped hemispheres each winter you could probably reduce this pro-inflammatory state," he says. "Some people move to sunnier climates in winter and probably feel better for it."
sources article:
nature.com
"Why Your Genes Know Exactly What Season It Is", article source: riseearth.com
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