Gene–environment interaction between circadian clock gene polymorphisms and job stress on the risk of sleep disturbances

Rationale Sleep disturbances was associated with numerous adverse health outcomes. Many studies have reported that long-term exposure to job stress can lead to sleep disturbances, which may be influenced by genetic and environmental factors. Objectives This cross-sectional study investigated whether circadian clock gene polymorphisms modulated the influence of job stress on sleep disturbances in a Chinese Han population, which to our best knowledge has not been explored. Methods The Effort-Reward Imbalance (ERI) scale and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) were both used to access job stress and sleep disturbances. The SNaPshot SNP assay was carried out by screening for circadian clock gene polymorphisms in every participant. Interactions associated with sleep disturbances were assessed by linear hierarchical regression analysis and SPSS macros (PROCESS). Results Linear hierarchical regression analysis showed that job stress was significantly related to sleep disturbances. Likewise, our study found a significant effect of PER2 rs2304672 polymorphisms on sleep disturbances ( p < 0.01), after controlling for confounding factors. In addition, the PER2 rs2304672 genotype modulated the relationship between job stress and sleep disturbances (β = 0.414, p = 0.007). Interestingly, further analysis of the results of the PER2 gene rs2304672 × job stress interaction showed that rs2304672 G-allele carriers had a high-risk effect on sleep disturbances under high job stress. Conclusions Our results suggest that the PER2 rs2304672 polymorphism may modulate the influence of job stress on sleep disturbances. These findings contribute to the field of sleep disturbances prevention and treatment.