The effect of circadian rhythm and sleep disorder on neurodegenerative parameters in healthcare workers

Objective: Quality sleep plays an important role in maintaining mental and physical health and quality of life. Circadian rhythm and sleep disorders describe clinical conditions in which the sleep-wake rhythm appropriate to environmental and social conditions is disrupted. This study eagers to investigate the neurodegenerative effects of circadian rhythm and sleep disorders on healthcare workers on duty. Method: This study was conducted at Harran University Medical Faculty Hospital with a subject group of 30 people who were on duty and a control group of 29 people who were not on duty. In order to obtain the study data, a survey form consisting of 25 questions questioning sociodemographic characteristics and information about working conditions created by the researchers, applied with a face-to-face survey technique, Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Morning-Evening Questionnaire (SAA) were used. With the consent of the participants, Neurofilament light chain (NfL), Phosphorylated tau protein (p-tau protein), Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), Neuron-specific enolase (NSE), S100 calcium binding protein (S100B), Brainderived neurotrophic factor (NfL) were collected from venous blood. BDNF), cAMP response element binding protein (CREB), and melatonin parameters were examined. Neurodegenerative parameters and survey results were differentiated between the subject and control groups, and the neurodegenerative parameters values of the subject group before and after the seizure were also compared. The relationship between these neurodegenerative parameters and PSQI was evaluated. The effect of working life on the sleep quality of the subject group was examined. The data was analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 25.0 program. A value of p<0.05 was accepted as the significance level. Results: In the study subject group, there were 14 (46.7%) women and 16 (53.3%) men; It was conducted with a total of 59 participants in the control group, 15 (51.7%) women and 14 (48.3%) XII men (Female n = 29 (49.2%), male n = 30 (50.8%)). . The average PSQI (p=0.002) scores of the subject group were higher and the average SAA (p=0.003) scores were lower compared to the control group. Among the neurodegenerative parameters, S100B (p=0.003) values were found to be higher in the subject group than in the control group, and melatonin (p=0.037) values were found to be lower. No statistically significant difference was detected between the subject and control group for NfL (p=0.120), GFAP (p=0.412), PMAPT (p=0.929), CREB (p=0.726) and BDNF (p=0.966) values. When the subject group was compared before and after the seizure, NSE (p = 0.010) was found to be higher after the seizure, but GFAP (p = 0.156), NFL (p = 0.185), S100B (p = 0.943), PMAPT (p = 0.829), CREB (No statistically significant difference was detected in the levels of p=0.829), BDNF (p=0.476) and melatonin (p=0.790). The relationship between the working life characteristics of the subject group and PSQI was not found to be statistically significant. It was observed that there was no notable relationship between the participants' PSQI score average values and neurodegenerative parameters. Conclusion: Health workers on duty; It was observed that the average PSQI score was higher, meaning the sleep quality was worse, and the average SAA score was lower, which means it was closer to the evening type. This study shows that post-seizure insomnia in healthcare workers has an acute effect on NSE, while regular on-call increases S100B levels and decreases melatonin levels. Although we did not detect any contrast in all of our neurodegenerative parameters, some of them are affected. The study suggests that circadian rhythm and sleep disturbance cause neurodegenerative effects. Keywords: Sleep disorder, circadian rhythm, neurodegeneration, melatonin