Irregular work shifts can weaken your immune system

#science #biology #immunesystem #immunology #shiftwork #infection #inflammation #circadiancycle

Shift-work and irregular work schedules can cause several health-related issues and affect our defense against infection, according to new research. Because our immune system is affected by the circadian clock, our ability to mount an immune response changes during the day. New computational models simulated the interplay between our body's clock and the immune system. The model is composed of the core circadian genes, their related proteins, and the regulatory mechanism of pro- and anti-inflammatory mediators. The results conclude that the immune response varies with the time of infection. It suggested that the time before we go to bed is the "worst" time to get an infection, since that is the time when our body is least prepared to produce the inflammatory mediators to fight infection. Also, an individual's gender was found to impact the severity of the infection. Compared to females, the immune system in males is more prone to overactivation, which can increase their chances of sepsis following an ill-timed infection.

Reference
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008514

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