Timing and Amplitude of Light Exposure, Not Photoperiod, Predict Blood Lipids in Arctic Residents: A Circadian Light Hypothesis
In Arctic residents, blood lipids fluctuate seasonally in response to changes in light exposure (LE) patterns. This study investigates which aspects of LE (timing, dynamic range, and duration) are related to lipid profiles. We analyzed actigraphy data measuring LE and blue light exposure (BLE) along with blood determinations from 27 residents across different seasons. We assessed circadian parameters of melatonin in a subset of participants. We found that features of BLE and melatonin significantly predicted lipids: An earlier BLE acrophase was associated with higher HDL-C (β = -0.246, <i>p</i> = 0.013). Nighttime BLE was positively associated with TC (β = 0.290, <i>p</i> = 0.008) and LDL-C (β = 0.253, <i>p</i> = 0.025). The normalized circadian amplitude of BLE was inversely associated with the TG/HDL ratio (β = -0.384, <i>p</i> < 0.001). Finally, earlier melatonin was associated with lower TG/HDL (β = 0.464, <i>p</i> = 0.007). Results remained significant after adjusting for co-factors of photoperiod duration, age, sex, and indigeneity. These findings suggest that patterns of LE (circadian light hygiene) could be a way to improve cardiovascular health.
Authors
- Yu. A. Petrova (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7380-091X)
- Marina Mezhakova (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9916-7430)
- K. A. Voronin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7578-9657)
- Konstantin V. Danilenko (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2096-4216)
- Mikhail F. Borisenkov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4310-2010)
- A.G. Markov
- Germaine Cornélissen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1698-1590)
- Larisa E. Alkhimova (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6571-6526)
- Sergey Kolomeichuk (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3104-3639)
- И. М. Петров (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7766-1745)
- Oliver Stefani (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0199-6500)
- Yu. V. Boldyreva (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3276-7615)
- Aislu Shigabaeva (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-9782-2413)
- Denis Gubin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2028-1033)
- Dietmar Weinert
Institutions
- University of Minnesota (US)
- University of Tyumen (RU)
- Institute of Physiology and Basic Medicine (RU)
- Tomsk National Research Medical Center (RU)
- Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RU)
- Institute of Biology of Karelian Research Centre (RU)
- Tyumen State Medical University (RU)
- Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (DE)
- Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (CH)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Biology
- Published
- 2025-07-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/biology14070799
- Citations
- 6
- Primary Topic
- Circadian rhythm and melatonin
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 5.49
Funders
- Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation