Epigenetics: Examining Female Adolescent Clock Genes to Glucocorticoids Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic
Document Types
Paper Presentation
School Code
n/a
School Name
De La Salle University Integrated School (Manila)
Research Advisor (Last Name, First Name, Middle Initial)
Espulgar, Wilfred V. and Ondevilla, Joan Candice V.
Abstract/Executive Summary
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on adolescents, necessitating changes to online learning and increased screen time. These alterations, coupled with an increase in stress, can disrupt sleep and circadian rhythms. Isolation has increased the worldwide need for digital devices. Teens' excessive screen usage increased by a factor of two because of academic and extracurricular obligations. The purpose of the study was to determine whether the COVID-19 pandemic had any significant effects on circadian rhythm alterations in glucocorticoids. Six healthy
female participants weighing 25 ๐๐/๐2 (mean = 21.7) and aged 18ยฑ1 were divided into 2 groups and underwent a 3-day experiment that encompassed a pandemic and a pre-pandemic lifestyle. A 24-hour urine collection with the analysis techniques of UV-Vis spectroscopy. The patterns from the groupsโ respective calibration curves of urine were this distinct. Peak changes from the pandemic-controlled outbreak were significant. A follow-up chromatographic comparison of pure cortisol with one participant from each group under high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was also performed. The observation suggests it is plausible that target glucocorticoids such as cortisol, melatonin, and estradiol fluctuate during COVID-19. More HPLC testing can accurately find glucocorticoid biomarkers of 6-sulfatoxymelatonin (aMT6s) for cortisol, estrone-3-glucuronide (E3G), and the NR3c1 gene, as well as other hormones linked to the event's circadian rhythms. This can further open discussions about DNA methylation. Physiological studies of neuroscience, endocrinology, and genetics performed on these groups indicated that a pandemic lifestyle might have a significant effect on glucocorticoids in adolescent women.
Keywords
circadian rhythm, glucocorticoids, sleep, stress, pandemic
Initial Consent for Publication
yes
Epigenetics: Examining Female Adolescent Clock Genes to Glucocorticoids Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on adolescents, necessitating changes to online learning and increased screen time. These alterations, coupled with an increase in stress, can disrupt sleep and circadian rhythms. Isolation has increased the worldwide need for digital devices. Teens' excessive screen usage increased by a factor of two because of academic and extracurricular obligations. The purpose of the study was to determine whether the COVID-19 pandemic had any significant effects on circadian rhythm alterations in glucocorticoids. Six healthy
female participants weighing 25 ๐๐/๐2 (mean = 21.7) and aged 18ยฑ1 were divided into 2 groups and underwent a 3-day experiment that encompassed a pandemic and a pre-pandemic lifestyle. A 24-hour urine collection with the analysis techniques of UV-Vis spectroscopy. The patterns from the groupsโ respective calibration curves of urine were this distinct. Peak changes from the pandemic-controlled outbreak were significant. A follow-up chromatographic comparison of pure cortisol with one participant from each group under high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was also performed. The observation suggests it is plausible that target glucocorticoids such as cortisol, melatonin, and estradiol fluctuate during COVID-19. More HPLC testing can accurately find glucocorticoid biomarkers of 6-sulfatoxymelatonin (aMT6s) for cortisol, estrone-3-glucuronide (E3G), and the NR3c1 gene, as well as other hormones linked to the event's circadian rhythms. This can further open discussions about DNA methylation. Physiological studies of neuroscience, endocrinology, and genetics performed on these groups indicated that a pandemic lifestyle might have a significant effect on glucocorticoids in adolescent women.
