Shift work disrupts circadian regulation of the transcriptome in hospital nurses

In the present study, we sought to determine the degree of circadian misalignments of hormonal and transcriptional rhythms with the timing of sleep-wake behavior on days off in day-shift and night-shift hospital nurses. We conducted a genome-wide microarray analysis on RNA isolated from PBMCs to examine individual variability of transcriptional rhythms. Total RNA obtained from isolated PBMCs every three hours from night-shift and day-shift nurses on a day off, in controlled laboratory conditions (isocaloric, and time-matched meals and low dim red light).