Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 8, 2025
Calcification of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells and Imaging of Aortic Calcification and Inflammation
Published on: May 31, 2016
Circadian rhythm disorder: a potential inducer of vascular calcification?
Haoran Huang1,2, Zhaohuai Li1,3, Yuyi Ruan1,4
1Department of Cardiology, The Eighth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, No. 3025, Shennan Middle Road, Futian District, Shenzhen, 518000, China.
Insights
Circadian rhythm disorders disrupt vascular cell function, contributing to vascular calcification. This review explores how disrupted circadian rhythms promote vascular calcification through cellular dysfunction and senescence.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Biology
- Chronobiology
- Vascular Physiology
Background:
- Circadian rhythms and their associated genes significantly influence vascular physiology.
- The vascular clock regulates endothelial and smooth muscle cell functions critical for vascular tone.
- Vascular cell dysfunction is a key factor in the development of vascular calcification.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the role of circadian rhythm disruption in vascular calcification.
- To elucidate the mechanisms linking circadian dysfunction to vascular calcification pathways.
- To explore potential new strategies for preventing vascular calcification based on circadian rhythm regulation.
Main Methods:
- Literature review focusing on circadian rhythm, vascular biology, and calcification.
- Analysis of molecular and cellular mechanisms involved in circadian regulation of vascular cells.
- Synthesis of evidence linking circadian rhythm disorders to vascular senescence and calcification.
Main Results:
- Circadian clock dysfunction directly impacts endothelial and smooth muscle cell functions.
- Disrupted circadian rhythms promote vascular calcification via osteogenic cytokine secretion and cellular phenotype switching.
- Circadian rhythm disorder exacerbates vascular calcification through hormonal imbalances, oxidative stress, inflammation, and autophagy.
- Accelerated vascular senescence, driven by circadian disruption, is implicated as a mediator of vascular calcification.
Conclusions:
- Circadian rhythm disruption is a significant contributor to vascular calcification.
- Targeting circadian rhythm pathways may offer novel therapeutic approaches for vascular calcification.
- Understanding the interplay between circadian rhythms and vascular health is crucial for cardiovascular disease prevention.
Abstract:
Over the past decades, circadian rhythm has drawn a great attention in cardiovascular diseases. The expressions of rhythm genes fluctuate in accordance with the diurnal changes of vascular physiology, which highlights the pivotal effect of vascular clock. Recent researches show that the circadian clock can directly regulate the synthetic and secretory function of endothelial cells and phenotypic switch of vascular smooth muscle cells to adjust vascular relaxation and contraction. Importantly, dysfunction of vascular cells is involved in vascular calcification. Secretion of osteogenic cytokines and calcified vesicles in the vessel, osteogenic phenotype switch of vascular smooth muscle cells are all implicated in the calcification process. Moreover, circadian rhythm disorder can lead to abnormal hormone secretion, oxidative stress, inflammatory reaction, and autophagy, all of which should not be ignored in vascular calcification. Vascular senescence is another pathogenetic mechanism in vascular calcification. Accelerated vascular senescence may act as an important intermediate factor to promote vascular calcification in circadian rhythm disorders. In this review, we elaborate the potential effect of circadian rhythm disorder in vascular calcification and try to provide a new direction in the prevention of vascular calcification.
Related Concept Videos
02:19Circadian Rhythms and Gene Regulation
01:15Chronopharmacokinetics: Circadian Rhythms and Influence on Drug Response
The time of drug administration is an important factor to consider, as it can influence the toxic dose of a drug. For example, a study conducted by Prins et al. in 1997 examined the effects of the timing of...
01:30Coronary Artery Disease I: Introduction
01:18Cardiovascular Drugs: Classification based on Therapeutic Indications
01:25Imaging Studies for Cardiovascular System VI: Calcium -Scoring CT
01:29Bone Disorders
Bone deposition is also affected by the levels of sex hormones like estrogen and testosterone that promote osteoblast activity and bone matrix synthesis. When the level of these hormones decreases due to aging, it causes a reduction in bone deposition. As a result, bone resorption by osteoclasts...