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Review
. 2022 Jan 3;23(1):504.
doi: 10.3390/ijms23010504.

A Growing Link between Circadian Rhythms, Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Alzheimer's Disease

Xuemin Peng  1   2 , Rongping Fan  1   2 , Lei Xie  1   2 , Xiaoli Shi  1   2 , Kun Dong  1   2 , Shujun Zhang  1   2 , Jing Tao  1   2 , Weijie Xu  1   2 , Delin Ma  1   2 , Juan Chen  3 , Yan Yang  1   2
Affiliations
Review

A Growing Link between Circadian Rhythms, Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Alzheimer's Disease

Xuemin Peng et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients are at a higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease (AD). Mounting evidence suggests the emerging important role of circadian rhythms in many diseases. Circadian rhythm disruption is considered to contribute to both T2DM and AD. Here, we review the relationship among circadian rhythm disruption, T2DM and AD, and suggest that the occurrence and progression of T2DM and AD may in part be associated with circadian disruption. Then, we summarize the promising therapeutic strategies targeting circadian dysfunction for T2DM and AD, including pharmacological treatment such as melatonin, orexin, and circadian molecules, as well as non-pharmacological treatments like light therapy, feeding behavior, and exercise.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; circadian rhythms; therapy; type 2 diabetes mellitus.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Molecular mechanism of the circadian clock. (a) The three parameters (amplitude, phase and period) of circadian rhythmicity. (b) In the TTFL, the positive transcriptional limb CLOCK and BMAL1 drive the expression of negative feedback repressors (PER, CRY), which subsequently suppress the expression of the positive limb. Additional feedback loops include REV-ERBα and RORα. REV-ERBα stimulates the gene expression of Bmal1, while RORα inhibits Bmal1 gene expression. CLOCK and BMAL1 also regulate a variety of clock-controlled genes (Ccg) that mediate the downstream circadian clock output. (In Figure 1b, straight lines: stimulation; dashed lines: inhibition.).
Figure 2
Figure 2
The circadian rhythms, T2DM and AD interact with each other.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Promising therapeutic strategies targeting circadian disruption for T2DM and AD.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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