From Bench to Bedside and Back Again: Translating Circadian Science to Medicine
Elizabeth B. Klerman, Achim Kramer, Phyllis C. Zee
Abstract
Clinicians, scientists, industry, occupational health and public health professionals, and patients are excited about the promising health and safety implications of circadian medicine.The award of the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to three scientists (Hall, Rosbash, and Young) for their work in elucidating the mechanisms of circadian rhythmicity introduced many people to the field.Now we and others are frequently asked when the results of basic research will be available for diagnosis, monitoring, and/or treatment of individual patients.Overwhelming evidence indicates that the circadian clock is essential for health and its disruption causes pathologies (Figure 1).A triad of circadian medicine approaches was recently proposed (Kramer et al. 2022): (i) detecting the clock (e.g., new diagnostic tools); (ii) targeting the clock (e.g., improving or resynchronizing disrupted rhythms); and (iii) exploiting the clock (e.g., using time-of-day adapted treatment regimens).Examples of each of these approaches already in use include: the dim light melatonin onset (DLMO) for detecting circadian phase; light treatment for circadian and other disorders; and time-of-day recommendations for statin-type medications.These and other encouraging past and recent