Air pollution's effect on your body clock and risk for heart disease and diabetes
(CIRCADIAN) Circadian Disruption as Mediator of Cardiometabolic Risk in Air Pollution
This work looks at whether breathing fine particle air pollution can disrupt your internal clock and raise the chance of heart disease and type 2 diabetes for people living in polluted areas.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Case Western Reserve University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Cleveland, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11171710 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
You might be invited to take part in trials that try to lower your exposure to fine particle (PM2.5) air pollution and then track blood sugar, heart-related measures, and sleep/circadian patterns. At the same time, researchers will run controlled animal exposure experiments and analyze blood and tissue samples to see how pollution changes genes and circadian rhythms. Large-scale genetic analyses and mendelian randomization will link human findings with lab results to identify biological pathways. The project combines ongoing personalized pollution-reduction trials in vulnerable communities (including work in Beijing) with new intervention studies across different exposure levels.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Adults who live in areas with measurable air pollution and who have or are at risk for cardiometabolic conditions such as high blood pressure, prediabetes, diabetes, or heart disease are the most likely candidates.
Not a fit: People living in very low-pollution areas, those without cardiometabolic risk factors, or those unable to follow exposure-mitigation measures may not receive direct benefit.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could point to ways to lower pollution-related risk of diabetes and heart disease by protecting the body clock or using practical exposure-reduction strategies.
How similar studies have performed: Previous studies have repeatedly linked fine particle pollution to cardiovascular disease and diabetes and early pollution-reduction trials show promising health gains, but tying pollution to circadian and epigenetic changes in humans is a more novel approach.
Where this research is happening
Cleveland, United States
- Case Western Reserve University — Cleveland, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Rajagopalan, Sanjay — Case Western Reserve University
- Study coordinator: Rajagopalan, Sanjay
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.