Chronic 'jet lag' found in people living with HIV

People living with HIV have a significantly delayed internal body clock, consistent with the symptoms of jet lag, according to researchers in South Africa and the UK. Their findings, which have been published in the Journal of Pineal Research, may explain some of the health problems experienced by people with HIV, and guide research towards improving their quality of life.

Researchers from Northumbria University, the University of Surrey, the University of the Witwatersrand and the University of Cape Town studied people aged 45 years and above living in South Africa’s Mpumalanga province, where nearly one person in four is living with HIV. As such, the infection is endemic and does not associate with any difference in lifestyle.

They found that physiological daily rhythms, as measured by the hormone melatonin, were delayed by more than an hour on average in HIV-positive participants. Their sleep cycle was also shorter, with researchers noting that their sleep started later and finished earlier.

“The participants living with HIV essentially experience the one-hour disruption associated with switching to daylight savings time, but every single morning,” said corresponding author Professor Malcolm von Schantz, from Northumbria University.

“This happens in spite of the fact that essentially everybody is exposed to the same light–dark cycle. Our findings have important potential implications for the health and wellbeing of people living with HIV, especially given the well-established relationships between disrupted circadian rhythms and sleep deprivation.”

This suggests the possibility that HIV infection may cause a circadian rhythm disorder similar to the disruption experienced in shift work or jet lag. The study authors believe that this body clock disruption may contribute significantly to the increased burden of health problems that people living with HIV are experiencing despite successful treatment, such as an increased risk of cardiovascular, metabolic and psychiatric disorders.

“This is very similar to the risk profile observed in shift workers,” said senior author Dr Karine Scheuermaier, from the University of the Witwatersrand. “Understanding and mitigating this disruption may be an important step towards helping people living with HIV live healthier lives.”

“Our findings identify an urgent research topic,” concluded Xavier Gómez-Olivé, also from the University of the Witwatersrand, whose research grant funded the study. “The next step must be to establish if the same body clock disruption exists in people living with HIV who are younger and who live in other countries.”

Image credit: iStock.com/Rowan Jordan

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