Shifting the Circadian Rhythm of Feeding in Mice Induces Gastrointestinal, Metabolic and Immune Alterations Which Are Influenced by Ghrelin and the Core Clock Gene Bmal1

摘要

BackgroundIn our 24-hour society, an increasing number of people are required to be awake and active at night. As a result, the circadian rhythm of feeding is seriously compromised. To mimic this, we subjected mice to restricted feeding (RF), a paradigm in which food availability is limited to short and unusual times of day. RF induces a food-anticipatory increase in the levels of the hunger hormone ghrelin. We aimed to investigate whether ghrelin triggers the changes in body weight and gastric emptying that occur during RF. Moreover, the effect of genetic deletion of the core clock gene Bmal1 on these physiological adaptations was studied.