The end of jet lag? Scientists develop drug that ‘resets’ body clock,
Anyone who has been on a long–haul flight will be all too familiar with the frustration of trying to fall asleep when you get home.
But the days of lying awake in the middle of the night could finally be a thing of the past.
Scientists from Kanazawa University in Japan have developed a drug that can ‘reset’ your body clock forward.
Called Mic–628, the compound works by inducing a clock gene called Per1.
This particular gene plays a key role in maintaining your circadian rhythm – the internal body clock that regulates the sleep–wake cycle.
In tests on mice, a single oral dose of Mic–628 shortened the internal clock’s readjustment period from seven days to just four.
The findings suggest the compound may serve as a prototype ‘smart drug’ for managing jet lag or shift work.
And it could be more effective than existing methods of trying to rearrange the body clock, such as light therapy or taking melatonin, according to the experts.
It follows a recent study which found jet lag is worse when travelling eastwards – and is felt more by younger people compared to those in their 60s.
The findings showed that while sleep duration recovers quickly, sleep timing can take ‘significantly longer’ to realign when traveling across time zones.
Writing in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) the team behind the new study said: ‘West–to–east transmeridian flights are more disruptive than east–to–west ones due to challenges in advancing the human circadian clock.
‘Here, we unravel a specific Per1 inducer…enabling abrupt phase advance in mouse behavioural rhythms.
‘These findings underscore the potential of selective Per expression as a therapeutic approach for human circadian rhythm disorders.’
The researchers said they plan to further investigate the safety and effectiveness of their treatment in further animal and human studies.
A separate study, published in 2023, found that eating a big breakfast and skipping dinner is the key to beating jet lag.
Scientists from Northwestern University in the US created a mathematical model which analysed the best way to reset your body clock after a long–haul flight.
Their findings suggest that someone flying from the UK to a time zone six hours away should try having a hearty breakfast but skipping dinner on the first three days of their trip.
This can help them recover up to three days faster than usual, they said.
Dr Rosemary Braun, senior author of the study, said: ‘We were interested in resetting your body clock using food, rather than light, because it is much easier to change your breakfast than to be jolted awake by your alarm clock.
‘This study does provide more evidence for a life hack which could help to ease jet lag, but we would not yet recommend it to anyone until we have more evidence from studies in people showing that it works.’
