Seabridge Bioenergetics

In a 2024 review in Diabetes and metabolism journal, the link between ALAN and type 2 diabetes is reviewed.

Seems staying awake at night with the lights of modernity messes with everything from glucose metabolism and circadian rythm, to the life style choices that “night owl” chronotypes make.

“For example, circadian misalignment by shift work increased the risk of T2DM by about 10% to 40% [17], with cumulative excess risk of up to 60% of T2DM with increasing duration of shift work [18]. In addition, night shift work was independently associated with poorer glycemic control in patients with T2DM [19]. Evening chronotypes were more likely to have unhealthy lifestyle behaviors and independently higher incident [20] and prevalent [21] T2DM risk than morning chronotypes.”

The Authors believe that melatonin supression is one of the key pathological drivers:

“Melatonin suppression is the principal putative mechanism mediating environmental exposure at the molecular level by eliciting aberrant epigenetic modifications [55], resulting in β-cell dysfunction and the pathogenesis of diabetes [56]”

And just like the hibernating animals, it seems the adaptive thermogensis is blocked (to an extrnd) from ALAN:

“Circadian disruption desynchronizes the central and peripheral biological clock, resulting in postprandial hyperglycemia induced by peripheral organ insulin resistance [42,43]. This contributes to increased hepatic endogenous glucose production [9], β-cell dysfunction [59–61], and a desynchronized sympathetic nerve system [42,62]. In addition, through non-SCN neural sympathetic pathways, exposure to ALAN blocks adaptive thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue, resulting in impaired glucose tolerance [63].”

Seems that controlling for deprivation makes it clear that light at night is a key disruptor in itself:

“The exposure to ALAN might be independently associated with T2DM risk even after adjustment for concurrent shift work [30] or sleep components (total sleep time and sleep efficiency) [37]. Moreover, elevated postprandial levels of insulin and glucagon-like peptide-1, coupled with increased insulin resistance resulting from sleep deprivation and exposure to nighttime light, were not evident under conditions of sleep deprivation in darkness”

Even adjusting for excersize and food addiction still makes it clear that ALAN is a prime causal factor in disease pathogenesis:

“Moreover, previous studies have demonstrated that the association between ALAN and T2DM or insulin resistance remained significant even after adjusting for physical activity [37,38] or food addiction [38].”

And Of course, “further research needed”

https://www.e-dmj.org/journal/view.php?doi=10.4093/dmj.2024.0237

Night time work is one hell of a toxin!