Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2024 Feb;98(2):395-408.
doi: 10.1007/s00204-023-03647-5. Epub 2023 Dec 16.

Molecular mechanisms of artificial light at night affecting circadian rhythm disturbance

Ting Lei #  1   2 , Hui Hua #  3   4 , Huiying Du  1   2 , Jie Xia  1   2 , Dandan Xu  1   2 , Wei Liu  1   2 , Yutong Wang  5 , Tianyao Yang  6   7
Affiliations
Review

Molecular mechanisms of artificial light at night affecting circadian rhythm disturbance

Ting Lei et al. Arch Toxicol. 2024 Feb.

Abstract

Artificial light at night (ALAN) pollution has been regarded as a global environmental concern. More than 80% of the global population is exposed to light pollution. Exacerbating this issue, artificially lit outdoor areas are growing by 2.2% per year, while continuously lit areas have brightened by 2.2% each year due to rapid population growth and expanding urbanization. Furthermore, the increasing prevalence of night shift work and smart device usage contributes to the inescapable influence of ALAN. Studies have shown that ALAN can disrupt endogenous biological clocks, resulting in a disturbance of the circadian rhythm, which ultimately affects various physiological functions. Up until now, scholars have studied various disease mechanisms caused by ALAN that may be related to the response of the circadian system to light. This review outlines the molecular mechanisms by which ALAN causes circadian rhythm abnormalities in sleep disorders, endocrine diseases, cardiovascular disease, cancer, immune impairment, depression, anxiety and cognitive impairments.

Keywords: ALAN; Central clock; Circadian rhythm; Clock genes; Peripheral clocks.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Akashi M, Matsumura R, Matsuo T, Kubo Y, Komoda H, Node K (2017) Hypercholesterolemia causes circadian dysfunction: a potential risk factor for cardiovascular disease. EBioMedicine 20:127–136. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ebiom.2017.04.034 - DOI - PubMed - PMC
    1. Alaasam VJ, Kernbach ME, Miller CR, Ferguson SM (2021) The diversity of photosensitivity and its implications for light pollution. Integr Comp Biol 61(3):1170–1181. https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icab156 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Alexander RK, Liou YH, Knudsen NH, Starost KA, Xu C, Hyde AL, Liu S, Jacobi D, Liao NS, Lee CH (2020) Bmal1 integrates mitochondrial metabolism and macrophage activation. Elife. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.54090 - DOI - PubMed - PMC
    1. Ameen RW, Warshawski A, Fu L, Antle MC (2022) Early life circadian rhythm disruption in mice alters brain and behavior in adulthood. Sci Rep 12(1):7366. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-11335-0 - DOI - PubMed - PMC
    1. Batra T, Malik I, Prabhat A, Bhardwaj SK, Kumar V (2020) Sleep in unnatural times: illuminated night negatively affects sleep and associated hypothalamic gene expressions in diurnal zebra finches. Proc Biol Sci 287(1928):20192952. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.2952 - DOI - PubMed - PMC

LinkOut - more resources