Circadian Disruption in Night Shift Work and Its Association with Chronic Pulmonary Diseases.

Globalization and the expansion of essential services over continuous 24 h cycles have necessitated the adaptation of the human workforce to shift-based schedules. Night shift work (NSW) causes a state of desynchrony between the internal circadian machinery and external environmental cues, which can impact inflammatory and metabolic pathways. The discovery of clock genes in the lung has shed light on potential mechanisms of circadian misalignment in chronic pulmonary disease. Here, the current knowledge of circadian clock disruption caused by NSW and its impact on lung inflammation and associated pathophysiology in chronic lung diseases, such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pulmonary fibrosis, and COVID-19, is reviewed. Furthermore, the limitations of the current understanding of circadian disruption and potential future chronotherapeutic advances are discussed.

Night-shift work is associated with increased susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Night-shift workers experience disturbances of their circadian rhythm and sleep, which may make them more susceptible to infectious diseases. Therefore, we studied whether night-shift workers are at higher risk of testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection than day workers. In this prospective study, data were used from 20 questionnaire rounds of the Dutch Lifelines COVID-19 cohort that was initiated in March 2020. In the different questionnaire rounds, 2285 night-shift workers and 23,766 day workers reported whether they had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Cox proportional hazards regression models adjusted for demographic, work, and health covariates were used to compare SARS-CoV-2 incidence between night-shift and day workers. From March 2020-January 2021, 3.4% of night-shift workers and 2.2% of day workers reported to have tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (p < .001). After adjustment for covariates, night-shift workers had a 37% higher risk of testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 (hazard ratio: 1.37, 95% confidence interval: 1.05-1.77). In this study, we show that night-shift workers were more likely to test positive for SARS-CoV-2 than day workers, which adds to the growing evidence that night-shift work may influence the complex processes involved in infection susceptibility. Further mechanistic insight is needed to understand the relation between night-shift work and (SARS-CoV-2) infection susceptibility.

Association of Night Shift Work With Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria and Effect Modification by Circadian Dysfunction Among Workers.

Purpose: Night shift work is common in the current working environment and is a risk factor for many diseases. The study aimed to explore the relationship between night shift work with chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU), and the modification effect of circadian dysfunction on it. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among Chinese workers. Exposure was measured by night work history and duration. Circadian dysfunction was characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS). The diagnosis of CSU was made by dermatologists who were investigating on the spot. The effect size was expressed as odds ratios (ORs). Results: A total of 8,057 participants were recruited, and 7,411 (92%) with complete information were included in the final analyses. The prevalence rates of CSU for workers without night shift and those with night shift history were 0.73 and 1.28%, respectively. Compared with workers who never worked night shifts, the risk of CSU increased with the length of night shift work: OR = 1.55 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.78-3.06) for duration <5 years and OR = 1.91 (95% CI: 1.12-3.26) for duration ≥5 years. EDS s EDS has been shown to modify this combination. Among workers without EDS, there was no association between night shift and CSU (OR = 0.94; 95% CI: 0.49-1.79). Whereas, in participants with EDS, the correlation was significant (OR = 3.58; 95% CI: 1.14-11.20). However, the effect modification by sleep disturbance was not observed. Conclusions: Night shift work is a risk factor for CSU, and there is a dose-response relationship between night shift work hours and the risk of CSU. This connection may be modified by circadian dysfunction.

High body mass index and night shift work are associated with COVID-19 in health care workers.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the magnitude of COVID-19 spread and the associated risk factors among health care workers (HCWs), we conducted an in-hospital survey in a central Italian COVID Hospital. METHODS: Participants underwent nasopharyngeal swab and/or serum collection for SARS-CoV-2 IgG examination. We divided participants according to working status, into rotating-night shift workers (r-NSW) and day-workers. RESULTS: We found 30 cases of COVID-19 infection in a total of 1180 HCWs (2.5%). Most COVID-19-positive hospital employees were r-NSWs with significantly higher BMI than that of individuals who tested negative. After adjustment for covariates, night work and BMI > 30 were associated with a markedly greater risk of COVID-19 diagnosis (OR 3.049 [95%CI 1.260-7.380] and OR 7.15 [95%CI 2.91-17.51], respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Our results describe a low prevalence of COVID-19 infection among HCWs at a central Italian COVID Hospital. COVID-19 infection risk appears to be associated with obesity and night shift work, thus supporting the need for careful health surveillance among frontline HCWs exposed to COVID-19.