Title:The Role of Circadian Rhythms in Fatal Arrhythmias and the Potential Impact of Intervention for Sleep-Disordered Breathing
Volume: 21
Issue: 24
Author(s): Yoshiyasu Aizawa, Takashi Kohno, Shinsuke Yuasa and Keiichi Fukuda
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Arrhythmia, circadian rhythm, sleep-disordered breathing, sudden death.
Abstract: There exist circadian patterns in the occurrence of sudden cardiac death. The suprachiasmatic nuclei is
the ‘master clock’ in mammalian bodies. Furthermore, several circadian genes have been successfully isolated in
basic studies and a huge variety of key players form the human circadian rhythm. Obvious circadian patterns are
present in the occurrence of critical events, but those characteristics differ greatly according to each disease. In this
review we summarized the current understanding of the basic mechanism and association with specific cardiovascular
diseases that demonstrate a circadian onset of fatal events. We also summarized the recent deep understanding
of sleep-disordered breathing. The close relationship between sleep-disordered breathing and cardiovascular
diseases may provide us with the possibility of a novel intervention against sudden cardiac death.