On Friday 13 March at 11:00, Simon Bøggild Hansen defends his PhD dissertation entitled "Effects of exogenous glucocorticoid exposure on energy expenditure, substrate metabolism and circadian rhythms: A whole room indirect calorimetry study in healthy human subjects".

In a new PhD project from Aarhus University, Health, Simon Bøggild Hansen investigated how glucocorti-coids affect human metabolism and the regulation of circadian rhythms using two newly establish whole room calorimeters at Steno Diabetes Center Aarhus to measure energy expenditure accurately. Glucocorticoids are frequently used to treat many different diseases and increase the risk of obesity and diabetes. Further, animal studies suggest that glucocorticoids are closely involved in regulating the internal circadian rhythm. Simon found that the commonly used glucocorticoid, prednisolone, markedly suppressed the rhythmic expression of central circadian clock genes in both skeletal muscle and adipose tissue. Additionally, it altered physiological circadian pat-terns including elevated nighttime glucose and nighttime systolic blood pressure and increased energy ex-penditure.

The findings contribute to a better understanding of the interaction between circadian rhythms and glucocorticoids and may form the basis for future studies investigating whether some of the side effects of glucocorticoid treatment are caused by disruption of the circadian rhythm.

The summary is written by the PhD student.

The defence is public and takes place in Auditorium Verdensrummet (A201-170), Entrance A, Steno Diabetes Center Aarhus, Aarhus University Hospital. Please see the press release for more information. 

Contact

PhD student Simon Bøggild Hansen
Mail: simhan@clin.au.dk  
Phone: +4541111574

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