Genetics and nutrition control the body’s biorhythms

Scientists from Baylor College of Medicine have found that our body not only lives by the clock built into our genes, but also adapts to what we eat. It turned out that it is the interaction of genes and diet that forms the circadian rhythms of the liver, especially those related to fat metabolism.

“Our data help explain why, with the same diet, some people gain weight faster or get liver problems, while others do not,” says the lead author of the work, associate professor Dongying Guan. The team studied human liver samples and conducted experiments on two lines of mice with different heredity. Scientists monitored how genes in the liver turn on and off during the day and how this rhythm changes with a high-fat diet.

The results were unexpected: genetics influenced not only which genes were active, but also at what time of day they worked. At the same time, fatty foods disrupted the usual rhythm, but in different ways for different genes: some continued to work on schedule, others lost their rhythm, and others, on the contrary, began to live by the clock.

The researchers paid special attention to the ESRRy gene. Formally, it does not belong to the family of “clock” genes, but it turned out to be a key regulator of the circadian rhythm. When it was turned off in mice, the animals’ fat metabolism was disrupted: many regular connections in the liver disappeared, and fat droplets accumulated chaotically.

Moreover, the genetic background determined not only how the liver processes fat, but also when exactly this happens. In some cases, the size of fat droplets changed during the day, in others they remained stable.

Scientists emphasize: it’s not just about the liver. Similar mechanisms can operate in other organs. This means that in the future, the development of so—called personalized chronotherapy is possible – when the time of eating or taking medications will adjust to the genetic profile of a person and his internal clock.

In other words, eating right by the hour in the future may become as important a part of treatment as choosing the medication itself.