Adrenal glucocorticoids as a target for jet lag therapies

When traveling across time zones, our physiological functions lose synchrony relative to the external day. The endogenous circadian clocks that usually prepare our body for times of eating, sleeping and other rhythmic behavioral and physiological processes become temporally disrupted. Owing to the fact that these clocks cannot immediately realign, we experience jet lag, which is characterized by multiple physiological and psychological symptoms. Despite recent advances in understanding circadian clock function and the mechanisms of jet lag, limited therapy is available at present for the treatment of disorders associated with long-distance travel. Recent studies demonstrate that adrenal glucocorticoids are central mediators of circadian clock re-entrainment and are themselves under circadian regulation. It is therefore attractive to consider glucocorticoid signaling as a promising target for therapeutic intervention in the treatment of jet lag.