Insomnia is a sleeping disorder characterized by persistent difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep despite the opportunity. It is typically followed by functional impairment while awake. Insomniacs have been known to complain about being unable to close their eyes or "rest their mind" for more than a few minutes at a time. Both organic and non-organic insomnia constitute a sleep disorder.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, approximately 60 million Americans suffer from insomnia each year. Insomnia tends to increase with age and affects about 40 percent of women and 30 percent of men.

Friday, December 14, 2007

New Pharmaceutical Approach For Sleep Disorder Treatments

The University of California, Irvine researchers have found that the chemical switch triggers the genetic mechanism to regulate our internal body clock.



The statement, which covers the specific information regarding the establishment of circadian rhythms until today identified a precise target for new drugs, the treatment of insomnia and a number of complaints. The study appears in the December 13 issue of Nature .



Paolo Sassone Corsi, Distinguished Professor and Chair of Pharmacology, found that a single amino acid activates the genes that regulate circadian rhythms. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, and Sassone - Corsi was surprised to find that only a single amino acid activates the body clock mechanism, because the complex genes involved.



"Because the triggering action is so specific, it seems a perfect target for the links, the regulation of this activity," said Sassone - Corsi. "It is always amazing to see how molecular control is so precise in biology."



Circa Diane rhythms of the body inner-time tracking system, the expected changes in the environment and adapt to a given time of day. They regulate a variety of body functions, from the sleep patterns and hormonal control on metabolism and behavior. About 10 percent to 15 percent of all human genes are circadian rhythms. This rhythm disturbances can have profound impact on the human health and has been linked to insomnia, depression, heart disease, cancer and neurodegenerative diseases.



CLOCK The gene and its partners BMAL1 trigger circadian rhythms. Sassone - Corsi and his research team discovered last year that CLOCK functions as an enzyme that is altered chromatin, the protein architecture of a cell DNA.



In this current study, which Sassone Corsi team learned that a single amino acid in the BMAL1 protein through an amendment resolves that the genetic chain of events associated with circadian rhythms.



Sassone Corsi-points out that if these amino acid change is impaired in any way, the switching mechanism can be thrown out, which is the genetic basis of circadian rhythm-related with complaints. Currently Sassone Corsi-antibody tests, the target group of these BMAL1 amino acids.



----------------------------< Br> article adapted from Medical News today from the original press release. ,
----------------------------



Jun Hirayama , Saurabh Sahar, Benedetto Grimaldi and Yasukazu Nakahata UC Irvine, and Teruya Tamaru and Ken Takamatsu of Toho University in Tokyo in the study, support for Cancer Research Coordinating Committee of the University of California and the National Institutes of Health.



About the University of California, Irvine: The University of California at Irvine is a top-ranked university dedicated to research, scholarship and community. Founded in 1965, UCI is among the fastest-growing campus of the University of California, with more than 27000 primary and graduate students and about 1800 professors. The zweitgr�te employer in dynamic Orange County, UCI contributes an annual economic impact of $ 3.7 billion.



Source: Tom vasich


University of California - Irvine

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