Rest phase snacking increases energy resorption and weight gain in male mice.

OBJECTIVE: Snacking, i.e., the intake of small amounts of palatable food items, is a common behavior in modern societies, promoting overeating and obesity. Shifting food intake into the daily rest phase disrupts circadian rhythms and is also known to stimulate weight gain. We therefore hypothesized that chronic snacking in the inactive phase may promote body weight gain and that this effect is based on disruption of circadian clocks. METHODS: Male mice were fed a daily chocolate snack either during their rest or their active phase and body weight development and metabolic parameters were investigated. Snacking experiments were repeated in constant darkness and in clock-deficient mutant mice to examine the role of external and internal time cues in mediating the metabolic effects of snacking. RESULTS: Chronic snacking in the rest phase increased body weight gain and disrupted metabolic circadian rhythms in energy expenditure, body temperature, and locomotor activity. Additionally, these rest phase snacking mice assimilated more energy during the inactive phase. Body weight remained increased in rest phase snacking wildtype mice in constant darkness as well as in clock-deficient mutant mice under a regular light-dark cycle compared to mice snacking in the active phase. Weight gain effects were abolished in clock-deficient mice in constant darkness. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that mistimed snacking increases energy resorption and promotes body weight gain. This effect requires a functional circadian clock at least under constant darkness conditions.

An adipokine feedback regulating diurnal food intake rhythms in mice.

Endogenous circadian clocks have evolved to anticipate 24 hr rhythms in environmental demands. Recent studies suggest that circadian rhythm disruption is a major risk factor for the development of metabolic disorders in humans. Conversely, alterations in energy state can disrupt circadian rhythms of behavior and physiology, creating a vicious circle of metabolic dysfunction. How peripheral energy state affects diurnal food intake, however, is still poorly understood. We here show that the adipokine adiponectin (ADIPOQ) regulates diurnal feeding rhythms through clocks in energy regulatory centers of the mediobasal hypothalamus (MBH). Adipoq-deficient mice show increased rest phase food intake associated with disrupted transcript rhythms of clock and appetite-regulating genes in the MBH. ADIPOQ regulates MBH clocks via AdipoR1-mediated upregulation of the core clock gene Bmal1. BMAL1, in turn, controls expression of orexigenic neuropeptide expression in the MBH. Together, these data reveal a systemic metabolic circuit to regulate central circadian clocks and energy intake.

Effects of sleep on the splenic milieu in mice and the T cell receptor repertoire recruited into a T cell dependent B cell response.

Sleep is known to improve immune function ranging from cell distribution in the naïve state to elevated antibody titers after an immune challenge. The underlying mechanisms still remain unclear, partially because most studies have focused on the analysis of blood only. Hence, we investigated the effects of sleep within the spleen in female C57BL/6J mice with normal sleep compared to short-term sleep-deprived animals both in the naïve state and after an antigen challenge. Lack of sleep decreased the expression of genes associated with immune cell recruitment into and antigen presentation within the spleen both in the naïve state and during a T cell dependent B cell response directed against sheep red blood cells (SRBC). However, neither T cell proliferation nor formation of SRBC-specific antibodies was affected. In addition, the T cell receptor repertoire recruited into the immune response within seven days was not influenced by sleep deprivation. Thus, sleep modulated the molecular milieu within the spleen whereas we could not detect corresponding changes in the primary immune response against SRBC. Further studies will show whether sleep influences the secondary immune response against SRBC or the development of the B cell receptor repertoire, and how this can be compared to other antigens.

Light modulation ameliorates expression of circadian genes and disease progression in spinal muscular atrophy mice.

Physiology and behaviour are critically dependent on circadian regulation via a core set of clock genes, dysregulation of which leads to metabolic and sleep disturbances. Metabolic and sleep perturbations occur in spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a neuromuscular disorder caused by loss of the survival motor neuron (SMN) protein and characterized by motor neuron loss and muscle atrophy. We therefore investigated the expression of circadian rhythm genes in various metabolic tissues and spinal cord of the Taiwanese Smn-/-;SMN2 SMA animal model. We demonstrate a dysregulated expression of the core clock genes (clock, ARNTL/Bmal1, Cry1/2, Per1/2) and clock output genes (Nr1d1 and Dbp) in SMA tissues during disease progression. We also uncover an age- and tissue-dependent diurnal expression of the Smn gene. Importantly, we observe molecular and phenotypic corrections in SMA mice following direct light modulation. Our study identifies a key relationship between an SMA pathology and peripheral core clock gene dysregulation, highlights the influence of SMN on peripheral circadian regulation and metabolism and has significant implications for the development of peripheral therapeutic approaches and clinical care management of SMA patients.

Oxyntomodulin regulates resetting of the liver circadian clock by food.

Circadian clocks coordinate 24-hr rhythms of behavior and physiology. In mammals, a master clock residing in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is reset by the light-dark cycle, while timed food intake is a potent synchronizer of peripheral clocks such as the liver. Alterations in food intake rhythms can uncouple peripheral clocks from the SCN, resulting in internal desynchrony, which promotes obesity and metabolic disorders. Pancreas-derived hormones such as insulin and glucagon have been implicated in signaling mealtime to peripheral clocks. In this study, we identify a novel, more direct pathway of food-driven liver clock resetting involving oxyntomodulin (OXM). In mice, food intake stimulates OXM secretion from the gut, which resets liver transcription rhythms via induction of the core clock genes Per1 and 2. Inhibition of OXM signaling blocks food-mediated resetting of hepatocyte clocks. These data reveal a direct link between gastric filling with food and circadian rhythm phasing in metabolic tissues.

Central inhibition of IKKß/NF-κB signaling attenuates high-fat diet-induced obesity and glucose intolerance.

Metabolic inflammation in the central nervous system might be causative for the development of overnutrition-induced metabolic syndrome and related disorders, such as obesity, leptin and insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes. Here we investigated whether nutritive and genetic inhibition of the central IκB kinase ß (IKKß)/nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) pathway in diet-induced obese (DIO) and leptin-deficient mice improves these metabolic impairments. A known prominent inhibitor of IKKß/NF-κB signaling is the dietary flavonoid butein. We initially determined that oral, intraperitoneal, and intracerebroventricular administration of this flavonoid improved glucose tolerance and hypothalamic insulin signaling. The dose-dependent glucose-lowering capacity was profound regardless of whether obesity was caused by leptin deficiency or high-fat diet (HFD). To confirm the apparent central role of IKKß/NF-κB signaling in the control of glucose and energy homeostasis, we genetically inhibited this pathway in neurons of the arcuate nucleus, one key center for control of energy homeostasis, via specific adeno-associated virus serotype 2-mediated overexpression of IκBα, which inhibits NF-κB nuclear translocation. This treatment attenuated HFD-induced body weight gain, body fat mass accumulation, increased energy expenditure, and reduced arcuate suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 expression, indicative for enhanced leptin signaling. These results reinforce a specific role of central proinflammatory IKKß/NF-κB signaling in the development and potential treatment of DIO-induced comorbidities.

Embryonic development of circadian clocks in the mammalian suprachiasmatic nuclei.

In most species, self-sustained molecular clocks regulate 24-h rhythms of behavior and physiology. In mammals, a circadian pacemaker residing in the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) receives photic signals from the retina and synchronizes subordinate clocks in non-SCN tissues. The emergence of circadian rhythmicity during development has been extensively studied for many years. In mice, neuronal development in the presumptive SCN region of the embryonic hypothalamus occurs on days 12-15 of gestation. Intra-SCN circuits differentiate during the following days and retinal projections reach the SCN, and thus mediate photic entrainment, only after birth. In contrast the genetic components of the clock gene machinery are expressed much earlier and during midgestation SCN explants and isolated neurons are capable of generating molecular oscillations in culture. In vivo metabolic rhythms in the SCN, however, are observed not earlier than the 19th day of rat gestation, and rhythmic expression of clock genes is hardly detectable until after birth. Together these data indicate that cellular coupling and, thus, tissue-wide synchronization of single-cell rhythms, may only develop very late during embryogenesis. In this mini-review we describe the developmental origin of the SCN structure and summarize our current knowledge about the functional initiation and entrainment of the circadian pacemaker during embryonic development.

Central adiponectin acutely improves glucose tolerance in male mice.

Adiponectin, an adipocyte-derived hormone, regulates glucose and lipid metabolism. It is also antiinflammatory. During obesity, adiponectin levels and sensitivity are reduced. Whereas the action of adiponectin in the periphery is well established the neuroendocrine role of adiponectin is largely unknown. To address this we analyzed the expression of adiponectin and the 2 adiponectin receptors (AdipoR1 and AdipoR2) in response to fasting and to diet-induced and genetic obesity. We also investigated the acute impact of adiponectin on central regulation of glucose homeostasis. Adiponectin (1 µg) was injected intracerebroventricularly (ICV), and glucose tolerance tests were performed in dietary and genetic obese mice. Finally, the influence of ICV adiponectin administration on central signaling cascades regulating glucose homeostasis and on markers of hypothalamic inflammation was assessed. Gene expression of adiponectin was down-regulated whereas AdipoR1 was up-regulated in the arcuate nucleus of fasted mice. High-fat (HF) feeding increased AdipoR1 and AdipoR2 gene expression in this region. In mice on a HF diet and in leptin-deficient mice acute ICV adiponectin improved glucose tolerance 60 minutes after injection, whereas normoglycemia in control mice was unaffected. ICV adiponectin increased pAKT, decreased phospho-AMP-activated protein kinase, and did not change phospho-signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 immunoreactivity. In HF-fed mice, ICV adiponectin reversed parameters of hypothalamic inflammation and insulin resistance as determined by the number of phospho-glycogen synthase kinase 3 ß(Ser9) and phospho-c-Jun N-terminal kinase (Thr183/Tyr185) immunoreactive cells in the arcuate nucleus and ventromedial hypothalamus. This study demonstrates that the insulin-sensitizing properties of adiponectin are at least partially based on a neuroendocrine mechanism that involves centrally synthesized adiponectin.

The dietary flavonoids naringenin and quercetin acutely impair glucose metabolism in rodents possibly via inhibition of hypothalamic insulin signalling.

Secondary metabolites of herbs and spices are widely used as an alternative strategy in the therapy of various diseases. The polyphenols naringenin, quercetin and curcumin have been characterised as anti-diabetic agents. Conversely, in vitro, naringenin and quercetin are described to inhibit phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3K), an enzyme that is essential for the neuronal control of whole body glucose homoeostasis. Using both in vitro and in vivo experiments, we tested whether the inhibitory effect on PI3K occurs in neurons and if it might affect whole body glucose homoeostasis. Quercetin was found to inhibit basal and insulin-induced phosphorylation of Akt (Ser473), a downstream target of PI3K, in HT-22 cells, whereas naringenin and curcumin had no effect. In Djungarian hamsters (Phodopus sungorus) naringenin and quercetin (10 mg/kg administered orally) diminished insulin-induced phosphorylation of Akt (Ser473) in the arcuate nucleus, indicating a reduction in hypothalamic PI3K activity. In agreement with this finding, glucose tolerance in naringenin-treated hamsters (oral) and mice (oral and intracerebroventricular) was reduced compared with controls. Dietary quercetin also impaired glucose tolerance, whereas curcumin was ineffective. Circulating levels of insulin and insulin-like growth factor-binding protein were not affected by the polyphenols. Oral quercetin reduced the respiratory quotient, suggesting that glucose utilisation was impaired after treatment. These data demonstrate that low doses of naringenin and quercetin acutely and potently impair glucose homoeostasis. This effect may be mediated by inhibition of hypothalamic PI3K signalling. Whether chronic impairments in glucose homoeostasis occur after long-term application remains to be identified.

Effect of central and peripheral leucine on energy metabolism in the Djungarian hamster (Phodopus sungorus).

Branched-chain amino acids, particularly leucine, are thought to activate nutrient sensing pathways in the hypothalamus that regulate food intake and energy homeostasis. In the light of recent controversial findings of leucine's effect on energy homeostasis further clarification of the metabolic impact of dietary leucine supplementation is required. We examined the pharmacological and dietary effects of leucine on energy metabolism in the Djungarian hamster (Phodopus sungorus), a well-established model for studies of alterations in leptin sensitivity and energy metabolism. We acutely administered leucine into the lateral ventricle (1.1 µg) of hamsters to characterize whether leucine exhibits anorexigenic properties in this species as has been described in other rodents. Next the catabolic effect of dietary administered leucine via supplemented rodent diet (15 % leucine), drinking water (17 g/L leucine) and oral gavages (10 mg/day); as well as the effect of subcutaneously (0.1 and 3 mg/day) and intraperitoneally (0.1, 3 and 6 mg/day) injected leucine which avoids the gastrointestinal-track was analyzed. Centrally administered leucine reduced 24 h food intake (by 32 %) and body weight. Both parameters were also reduced in hamsters with leucine supplemented diet, but this catabolic response was based on a pronounced taste aversion to the leucine-diet. In all other experiments, dietary leucine and peripheral injections of leucine had no effect on food intake, body weight and basal blood glucose levels. Our data suggest that in the Djungarian hamster dietary leucine fails to exhibit catabolic effects that would override the evolutionary conserved adaptations of the species which is critical for its survival.

Hypothalamic glycogen synthase kinase 3ß has a central role in the regulation of food intake and glucose metabolism.

GSK3ß (glycogen synthase kinase 3ß) is a ubiquitous kinase that plays a key role in multiple intracellular signalling pathways, and increased GSK3ß activity is implicated in disorders ranging from cancer to Alzheimer's disease. In the present study, we provide the first evidence of increased hypothalamic signalling via GSK3ß in leptin-deficient Lep(ob/ob) mice and show that intracerebroventricular injection of a GSK3ß inhibitor acutely improves glucose tolerance in these mice. The beneficial effect of the GSK3ß inhibitor was dependent on hypothalamic signalling via PI3K (phosphoinositide 3-kinase), a key intracellular mediator of both leptin and insulin action. Conversely, neuron-specific overexpression of GSK3ß in the mediobasal hypothalamus exacerbated the hyperphagia, obesity and impairment of glucose tolerance induced by a high-fat diet, while having little effect in controls fed standard chow. These results demonstrate that increased hypothalamic GSK3ß signalling contributes to deleterious effects of leptin deficiency and exacerbates high-fat diet-induced weight gain and glucose intolerance.