Concepts of biological rhythmicity and chronobiology in the Holy Bible

Dear editors, The way in which religious texts and sources depict the processes involved in the regulation of life is an interesting and rich topic. For example, the Holy Bible, the religious basis of Western civilization, is a document that includes references to medical, as well as historic cultural practicestu. Sun has already demonstrated that the Bible contains rich medical materials on different subjects in which the roots of modem medicine can be seen. We would like to expand this view to show that religious documents, with a focus on the Holy Bible, are illustrative of period understanding of life and human biological rhythmicity and chronobiology.

Exploitation of host clock gene machinery by hepatitis viruses B and C

Many aspects of cellular physiology display circadian(approximately 24-h)rhythms.Dysfunction of the circadian clock molecular circuitry is associated with human health derangements,including neurodegeneration,increased risk of cancer,cardiovascular diseases and the metabolic syndrome.Viruses triggering hepatitis depend tightly on the host cell synthesis machinery for their own replication,survival and spreading.Recent evidences support a link between the circadian clock circuitry and viruses’biological cycle within host cells.Currently,in vitro models for chronobiological studies of cells infected with viruses need to be implemented.The establishment of such in vitro models would be helpful to better understand the link between the clock gene machinery and viral replication/viral persistence in order to develop specifically targeted therapeutic regimens.Here we review the recent literature dealing with the interplay between hepatitis B and C viruses and clock genes.

Acupuncture in the Multimodal Biopsychosocial Pain Management. <br>Towards a New Model in Clinical Practice

The last decennia the multidimensional nature of pain has been recognized and a multimodal bio-psychosocial management has been proposed. Acupuncture has progressively gained a place in this multimodal approach. The principles of traditional Chinese medicine link three major themes, nutrition and microbiome, neuroplasticity, homeostasis and the side effects of medication. For patients with chronic pain and/or chronic pain refractory to conservative medicine it is important to assess all factors involved with the chronicity. The improved biological, genetic and epigenetic knowledge has contributed to a better understanding of the mechanism of action of acupuncture and integrative medicine. Moreover neuroimaging has been able to demonstrate the brain regions activated by acupuncture and also illustrates the differences with sham or placebo. Opponents often claim an absence or weakness of evidence. These claims are based on the observations that the initial reports are predominantly case reports and studies with a poor design quality. In the last decennia well-designed randomized trials have been published, thus improving the quality of the evidence. The most important findings are summarized in this article. As with all controlled trials the inclusion and exclusion criteria as well as the standardization of the treatment do not always reflect daily practice. Therefore we report patient cases as illustration of the integrative approach.

Circadian dysrhythmia-linked diabetes mellitus: Examining melatonin's roles in prophylaxis and management

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic, life-threatening metabolic disorder that occurs worldwide. Despite an increase in the knowledge of the risk factors that are associated with diabetes mellitus, its worldwide prevalence has continued to rise; thus, necessitating more research into its aetiology. Recent researches are beginning to link a dysregulation of the circadian rhythm to impairment of intermediary metabolism; with evidences that circadian rhythm dysfunction might play an important role in the aetiology, course or prognosis of some cases of diabetes mellitus. These evidences thereby suggest possible relationships between the circadian rhythm regulator melatonin, and diabetes mellitus. In this review, we discuss the roles of the circadian rhythm in the regulation of the metabolism of carbohydrates and other macronutrients; with emphasis on the importance of melatonin and the impacts of its deficiency on car-bohydrate homeostasis. Also, the possibility of using melatonin and its analogs for the "prophylaxis" or management of diabetes mellitus is also considered.

The mode of yearly biological cycle of malignant growth of hepatocellular carcinoma on computed tomography

OBJECTIVE: To detect the mode of yearly biological cycle of malignant biological behavior of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: Twenty-one kinds of CT signs reflecting various degrees of malignant biological behavior were determined. A total of 360 patients were collected by random sampling of 30 patients each month. CT signs of each patient were fitted in corresponding group of yearly cyclic data respectively by cosine curves and analysed in terms of sequence characteristics (cosinor). RESULTS: With a 95% confidence, 10 CT signs showed biological rhythm (P<0.05). The acrophase of CT features for highly-invasive growth concentrated between -60° and -120° from March to April. For low-invasive growth, however, the CT features were relatively low and concentrated between -180° and -270° from July to September. No acrophase was shown between -120° and -180° from May to June, and between -270° and -330° from October to November. CONCLUSION: Between CT signs of the highly-invasive and those of low-invasive growth of HCC, a sequential difference in biological cycles can be observed.

The Assessment of Medical Students’ Chronotypes

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the circadian typology of medical students at public universities from one of the northeastern states in Brazil, active in the morning and afternoon shifts, checking the compatibility between their study time, productivity, income and chronotype. Methods: To obtain the results, the assessment of the chronotype in 342 medical students of both sexes was considered. Each participant was submitted to the questionnaire developed by Horne and Ostberg, adapted by Cardinali, Colomberk and Rey. It’s composed of 9 questions, providing the general ranking of each individual. Based upon scored, the chronotypes were classified. Results: The sample was composed of 49.12% (168) male and 50.87% (174) female subjects, a similar gender distribution of enrolled students during data collection time. By applying the questionnaire, the prevalent rating among the medical students as moderately morning (29.82%) and intermediate (43.85%) has been relevant. The academic performance assessment in two morning-intermediate groups (8.16) had no significant distance from others considered afternoon active (8.20). Conclusion: The health sciences student, especially Medicine, faces constant adaptation of scheduling, in the attempt of fulfilling the requirements throughout the course, causing chronogram desynchronization effects and forced readaptation to each different school semester.

USE OF CHRONOLITHOTHERAPY FOR BETTER INDIVIDUAL HEALTHCARE AND WELFARE

Man＇s innate clocks functioning allows to understand WHEN and WHY therapies are efficient. Vigil chronotypes determination and respect allows to avoid scholars＇ failure. Performances depend on chronotypes and time changes. Both minimal and maxima/durations of night sleep cycles result from interactions between endogenous and exogenous clocks. Our ecoexotope is structured by solar, lunar and terrestrial rhythms which are synchronisers for endophysiotope clocks. Man night sleep changes depend on lunar cycles entrainment. Sleep analyses point to circa-annual solar rhythms used as controls to evidence circa-monthly lunar ones. To evidence physiological responses individual longitudinal records are used. To evidence lithotherapeutic effects, stimuli responses are tested according to a double-blind placebo-controlled survey. WHAT mineral to chose？, WHY？, HOW to treat？, WHEN？ Compared with controls, jadeite or nephrite enhances night sleep quality with a 15 fold decrease of awakenings and urinations. The highest placebo effect was below 4 fold increase. Depending on minerals and trace elements, properties change. The mineral crystal structure is evidenced to have an action. The contact area with the skin is a limiting factor. Placebo effects are greater during the day phase. Red jasper treatment enhances the number and intensity of diurnal physical working. Minerals act in a dose-dependent manner and in synergy. Hematite sole gives a placebo effect, but increases the effect of serpentinite by a 15 fold value. Within a clocks network, the latency phase of the whole is shorter than the shortest latency phase of each clock, enhancing the system reactivity.

Diurnal Regulation of Lipid Metabolism and Applications of Circadian Lipidomics

The circadian timing system plays a key role in orchestrating lipid metabolism. In concert with the solar cycle, the circadian system ensures that daily rhythms in lipid absorption, storage, and transport are temporally coordinated with rest-activity and feeding cycles. At the cellular level, genes involved in lipid synthesis and fatty acid oxidation are rhythmically activated and repressed by core clock proteins in a tissue-specific manner. Consequently, loss of clock gene function or misalignment of circadian rhythms with feeding cycles （e.g., in shift work） results in impaired lipid homeostasis. Herein, we review recent progress in circadian rhythms research using lipidomics, i.e., large-scale profiling of lipid metabolites, to characterize circadian-regulated lipid pathways in mammals. In mice, novel regulatory circuits involved in fatty acid metabolism have been identified in adipose tissue, liver, and muscle. Extensive diversity in circadian regulation of plasma lipids has also been revealed in humans using lipidomics and other metabolomics approaches. In future studies, lipidomics platforms will be increasingly used to better understand the effects of genetic variation, shift work, food intake, and drugs on circadian-regulated lipid pathways and metabolic health.