| Title: | Genetic evidence for causality of late chronotype on metabolic syndrome in East Asians and Europeans |
| Journal: | Sleep Medicine |
| Published: | 16 Feb 2026 |
| Pubmed: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41707574/ |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2026.108845 |
Publication 17748
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Abstract
CONTEXT: The impact of chronotype-defined as an individuals' inherent preference of sleep timing-and its genetic determinants on metabolic syndrome (MetS) has been less studied.</p>
OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the causal relationship between late chronotype and MetS using Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis, based on data from the Taiwan Biobank (TWB) and parallel analyses in the UK Biobank (UKB).</p>
METHODS: A total of 36,845 participants from TWB served as the discovery cohort, and 235,639 participants from UKB served as the replication cohort. Late chronotype was defined in TWB as a preference for bedtime after midnight, and in UKB as self-report as being an 'evening' person. The association between late chronotype and MetS, along with its components, was evaluated in TWB, and validated in UKB. Genome-wide association analyses for late chronotype were first conducted in TWB and then meta-analyzed with UKB. Polygenic risk scores (PRS) for late chronotype were constructed and tested for association with MetS. Causality between late chronotype and MetS was examined using one-sample MR analysis in TWB and validated in UKB.</p>
RESULTS: Late chronotype was significantly associated with MetS, as well as with central obesity, hyperglycemia, and hypertriglyceridemia, in both TWB and UKB (all P < 0.0083, considering Bonferroni correction). The constructed PRS of late chronotype also showed significant associations with MetS and several of its components (several P < 0.0083, considering Bonferroni correction). Findings from the one-sample MR analysis indicated a potential causal effect of late chronotype on MetS.</p>
CONCLUSIONS: This study provides evidence of a robust association between late chronotype and MetS across populations of diverse ancestry, including Taiwanese and European.</p>
6 Authors
- Chun-Yi Lee
- Ren-Hua Chung
- Yong-Sheng Zhuang
- Jerome I Rotter
- Yii-Der Ida Chen
- Wayne Huey-Herng Sheu
1 Application
| Application ID | Title |
|---|---|
| 82617 | Trans-ethnic analyses of genetic and environmental effects on complex traits |
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