Metabolomic profiles in night shift workers: A cross-sectional study on hospital female nurses

Abstract

Background and aimShift work, especially including night shifts, has been found associated with several diseases, including obesity, diabetes, cancers, and cardiovascular, mental, gastrointestinal and sleep disorders. Metabolomics (an omics-based methodology) may shed light on early biological alterations underlying these associations. We thus aimed to evaluate the effect of night shift work (NSW) on serum metabolites in a sample of hospital female nurses.MethodsWe recruited 46 nurses currently working in NSW in Milan (Italy), matched to 51 colleagues not employed in night shifts. Participants filled in a questionnaire on demographics, lifestyle habits, personal and family health history and work, and donated a blood sample. The metabolome was evaluated through a validated targeted approach measuring 188 metabolites. Only metabolites with at least 50% observations above the detection limit were considered, after standardization and log-transformation. Associations between each metabolite and NSW were assessed applying Tobit regression models and Random Forest, a machine-learning algorithm.ResultsWhen comparing current vs. never night shifters, we observed lower levels of 21 glycerophospholipids and 6 sphingolipids, and higher levels of serotonin (+171.0%, 95%CI: 49.1–392.7), aspartic acid (+155.8%, 95%CI: 40.8–364.7), and taurine (+182.1%, 95%CI: 67.6–374.9). The latter was higher in former vs. never night shifters too (+208.8%, 95%CI: 69.2–463.3). Tobit regression comparing ever (i.e., current + former) and never night shifters returned similar results. Years worked in night shifts did not seem to affect metabolite levels. The Random-Forest algorithm confirmed taurine and aspartic acid among the most important variables in discriminating current vs. never night shifters.ConclusionsThis study, although based on a small sample size, shows altered levels of some metabolites in night shift workers. If confirmed, our results may shed light on early biological alterations that might be related to adverse health effects of NSW.

Latent profile analysis of nurses’ perceived professional benefits in China: a cross-sectional study

“…Nursing is a continuous, 24-hour profession, and nurses’ work normally takes the form of night shifts. It is widely proven that night shifts negatively impact the physical and emotional health of nurses 33–36. Nurses working rotating night shifts were normally younger, and they had the lower scores of job satisfaction, quality of sleep and quantity of sleep37; these factors resulted in low-perceived professional benefits.…”

“…It is widely proven that night shifts negatively impact the physical and emotional health of nurses. [33][34][35][36] Nurses working rotating night shifts were normally younger, and they had the lower scores of job satisfaction, quality of sleep and quantity of sleep 37 ; these factors resulted in low-perceived professional benefits. Consistent with past research, our findings indicate that the greater the frequency of night shifts, the lower the perceived professional benefit.…”