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Fonken, L. K., Lieberman, R. A., Weil, Z. M., & Nelson, R. J. (2013). Dim light at night exaggerates weight gain and inflammation associated with a high-fat diet in male mice. Endocrinology, 154(10), 3817–3825.
Abstract: Elevated nighttime light exposure is associated with symptoms of metabolic syndrome. In industrialized societies, high-fat diet (HFD) and exposure to light at night (LAN) often cooccur and may contribute to the increasing obesity epidemic. Thus, we hypothesized that dim LAN (dLAN) would provoke additional and sustained body mass gain in mice on a HFD. Male mice were housed in either a standard light/dark cycle or dLAN and fed either chow or HFD. Exposure to dLAN and HFD increase weight gain, reduce glucose tolerance, and alter insulin secretion as compared with light/dark cycle and chow, respectively. The effects of dLAN and HFD appear additive, because mice exposed to dLAN that were fed HFD display the greatest increases in body mass. Exposure to both dLAN and HFD also change the timing of food intake and increase TNFalpha and MAC1 gene expression in white adipose tissue after 4 experimental weeks. Changes in MAC1 gene expression occur more rapidly due to HFD as compared with dLAN; after 5 days of experimental conditions, mice fed HFD already increase MAC1 gene expression in white adipose tissue. HFD also elevates microglia activation in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus and hypothalamic TNFalpha, IL-6, and Ikbkb gene expression. Microglia activation is increased by dLAN, but only among chow-fed mice and dLAN does not affect inflammatory gene expression. These results suggest that dLAN exaggerates weight gain and peripheral inflammation associated with HFD.
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Fonken, L. K., Weil, Z. M., & Nelson, R. J. (2013). Dark nights reverse metabolic disruption caused by dim light at night. Obesity (Silver Spring), 21(6), 1159–1164.
Abstract: OBJECTIVE: The increasing prevalence of obesity and related metabolic disorders coincides with increasing exposure to light at night. Previous studies report that mice exposed to dim light at night (dLAN) develop symptoms of metabolic syndrome. This study investigated whether mice returned to dark nights after dLAN exposure recover metabolic function. DESIGN AND METHODS: Male Swiss-Webster mice were assigned to either: standard light-dark (LD) conditions for 8 weeks (LD/LD), dLAN for 8 weeks (dLAN/dLAN), LD for 4 weeks followed by 4 weeks of dLAN (LD/dLAN), and dLAN for 4 weeks followed by 4 weeks of LD (dLAN/LD). RESULTS: After 4 weeks in their respective lighting conditions both groups initially placed in dLAN increased body mass gain compared to LD mice. Half of the dLAN mice (dLAN/LD) were then transferred to LD and vice versa (LD/dLAN). Following the transfer dLAN/dLAN and LD/dLAN mice gained more weight than LD/LD and dLAN/LD mice. At the conclusion of the study dLAN/LD mice did not differ from LD/LD mice with respect to weight gain and had lower fat pad mass compared to dLAN/dLAN mice. Compared to all other groups dLAN/dLAN mice decreased glucose tolerance as indicated by an intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test at week 7, indicating that dLAN/LD mice recovered glucose metabolism. dLAN/dLAN mice also increased MAC1 mRNA expression in peripheral fat as compared to both LD/LD and dLAN/LD mice, suggesting peripheral inflammation is induced by dLAN, but not sustained after return to LD. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that re-exposure to dark nights ameliorates metabolic disruption caused by dLAN exposure.
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Ishikawa, R., Shinomura, T., Takano, M., & Shimamoto, K. (2009). Phytochrome dependent quantitative control of Hd3a transcription is the basis of the night break effect in rice flowering. Genes Genet Syst, 84(2), 179–184.
Abstract: A short exposure to light during relative night (night break; NB) delays flowering in the short day plant rice. NB acts by downregulating Heading date 3a (Hd3a) expression. Because phytochrome B mutants do not respond to NB and their flowering time is not affected even under NB conditions, phyB is required for the suppression of Hd3a expression. The effect of NB is quantitatively controlled by light quality and by either light intensity or duration. However, the molecular mechanisms that regulate these interactions are poorly understood. Here, we examine the roles of phytochromes in the regulation of Hd3a transcription under NB conditions using monochromatic red, far-red and blue light. Red and blue light downregulated Hd3a expression, but far-red light NB did not. The effect of red light NB on Hd3a is dependent on photon fluence and is restored by subsequent far-red light irradiation. Our results suggest that quantitative effect of light on flowering in rice NB is mediated by the regulation of Hd3a transcription by phyB.
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Kavcic, P., Rojc, B., Dolenc-Groselj, L., Claustrat, B., Fujs, K., & Poljak, M. (2011). The impact of sleep deprivation and nighttime light exposure on clock gene expression in humans. Croat Med J, 52(5), 594–603.
Abstract: Aim
To examine the effect of acute sleep deprivation under light conditions on the expression of two key clock genes, hPer2 and hBmal1, in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and on plasma melatonin and cortisol levels.
Methods
Blood samples were drawn from 6 healthy individuals at 4-hour intervals for three consecutive nights, including a night of total sleep deprivation (second night). The study was conducted in April-June 2006 at the University Medical Centre Ljubljana.
Results
We found a significant diurnal variation in hPer2 and hBmal1 expression levels under baseline (P < 0.001, F = 19.7, df = 30 for hPer2 and P < 0.001, F = 17.6, df = 30 for hBmal1) and sleep-deprived conditions (P < 0.001, F = 9.2, df = 30 for hPer2 and P < 0.001, F = 13.2, df = 30 for hBmal1). Statistical analysis with the single cosinor method revealed circadian variation of hPer2 under baseline and of hBmal1 under baseline and sleep-deprived conditions. The peak expression of hPer2 was at 13:55 ± 1:15 hours under baseline conditions and of hBmal1 at 16:08 ± 1:18 hours under baseline and at 17:13 ± 1:35 hours under sleep-deprived conditions. Individual cosinor analysis of hPer2 revealed a loss of circadian rhythm in 3 participants and a phase shift in 2 participants under sleep-deprived conditions. The plasma melatonin and cortisol rhythms confirmed a conventional alignment of the central circadian pacemaker to the habitual sleep/wake schedule.
Conclusion
Our results suggest that 40-hour acute sleep deprivation under light conditions may affect the expression of hPer2 in PBMCs.
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Kovac, J., Husse, J., & Oster, H. (2009). A time to fast, a time to feast: the crosstalk between metabolism and the circadian clock. Mol Cells, 28(2), 75–80.
Abstract: The cyclic environmental conditions brought about by the 24 h rotation of the earth have allowed the evolution of endogenous circadian clocks that control the temporal alignment of behaviour and physiology, including the uptake and processing of nutrients. Both metabolic and circadian regulatory systems are built upon a complex feedback network connecting centres of the central nervous system and different peripheral tissues. Emerging evidence suggests that circadian clock function is closely linked to metabolic homeostasis and that rhythm disruption can contribute to the development of metabolic disease. At the same time, metabolic processes feed back into the circadian clock, affecting clock gene expression and timing of behaviour. In this review, we summarize the experimental evidence for this bimodal interaction, with a focus on the molecular mechanisms mediating this exchange, and outline the implications for clock-based and metabolic diseases.
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