Gene Polymorphisms Associated with Sleep and Cognitive Functions and Their Associations with Accident Proneness in Shift-Working Bus Drivers

The aim of the present work was to investigate a series of single-nucleotide gene polymorphisms and their associations with accident proneness in bus drivers. The study involved 299 shift-working professional drivers for whom accident statistics were available. Polymorphisms in genes associated with the sleep-waking rhythm and cognitive and emotional functions were investigated, i.e., CLOCK (rs12649507), RORA (rs1159814), NPAS2 (rs4851377), NPSR1 (rs324981), PER3 (rs2640909), DRD3 (rs6280), SLC6A3 (rs6347), and DBH (rs1611125). The study identifi ed signifi cant associations between accident parameters and polymorphisms in the CLOCK , NPSR1 , and SLC6A3 genes. We suggest that these are due to differences in chronotype and resistance to impairments to the sleep regime for the CLOCK gene and in cognitive and emotional control for the NPSR1 and SLC6A3 genes.