Time‐restricted feeding prevents depressive‐like and anxiety‐like behaviors in male rats exposed to an experimental model of shift‐work

Abstract

Individuals who regularly shift their sleep timing, like night and/or shift-workers suffer from circadian desynchrony and are at risk of developing cardiometabolic diseases and cancer. Also, shift-work is are suggested to be a risk factor for the development of mood disorders such as the burn out syndrome, anxiety, and depression. Experimental and clinical studies provide evidence that food intake restricted to the normal activity phase is a potent synchronizer for the circadian system and can prevent the detrimental health effects associated with circadian disruption. Here, we explored whether adult male Wistar rats exposed to an experimental model of shift-work (W-AL) developed depressive and/or anxiety-like behaviors and whether this was associated with neuroinflammation in brain areas involved with mood regulation. We also tested whether time-restricted feeding (TRF) to the active phase could ameliorate circadian disruption and therefore would prevent depressive and anxiety-like behaviors as well as neuroinflammation. In male Wistar rats, W-AL induced depressive-like behavior characterized by hypoactivity and anhedonia and induced increased anxiety-like behavior in the open field test. This was associated with increased number of glial fibrillary acidic protein and IBA-1-positive cells in the prefrontal cortex and basolateral amygdala. Moreover W-AL caused morphological changes in the microglia in the CA3 area of the hippocampus indicating microglial activation. Importantly, TRF prevented behavioral changes and decreased neuroinflammation markers in the brain. Present results add up evidence about the importance that TRF in synchrony with the light-dark cycle can prevent neuroinflammation leading to healthy mood states in spite of circadian disruptive conditions.

Fibroblast Growth Factor 21 as a Potential Biomarker for Improved Locomotion and Olfaction Detection Ability after Weight Reduction in Obese Mice

“…Concerning behavioural analysis, we assumed that TRF alone was beneficial [ 60 ], but we showed that the combination of dietary change to LFD and TM was also conducive. We also expected at least a similar effect when combining all three intervention strategies, if not even a magnified result.…”

Characterizing eating behavioral phenotypes in mood disorders: a narrative review

“…Feeding is an important peripheral cue for the circadian system. Desynchronization between the circadian clock and feeding times is strongly associated with negative health outcomes, including depressive and anxiety symptoms in animal models of shift work (Guerrero-Vargas, Zarate-Mozo, Guzman-Ruiz, Cardenas-Rivera, & Escobar, 2021 ). In humans, desynchronized eating rhythms result in abnormal metabolic hormone signaling and weight gain (Blancas-Velazquez et al, 2017 ; Brum, Filho, Schnorr, Bottega, & Rodrigues, 2015 ; Dollet & Zierath, 2019 ).…”

“…Time-restricted eating has also demonstrated benefit for the circadian desynchronized EBP, defined as the strict separation of feeding and fasting windows in which food intake is limited to a 12–20-hour window during the active phase (Guerrero-Vargas et al, 2021 ; Longo & Panda, 2016 ). Time-restricted eating has already been explored for the treatment of circadian rhythm-related metabolic dysfunction (Longo & Panda, 2016 ; Manoogian & Panda, 2017 ).…”

New Horizons for Phenotyping Behavior in Rodents: The Example of Depressive-Like Behavior

“…This is of particular interest in the context of depression, as the dysregulation of activity cycles can provide a good readout of maladaptive behavior (e.g., Shimizu and Hara, 2020 ; Yuan et al, 2020 ; Li et al, 2021 ; see also for review Mendoza and Vanotti, 2019 ). Moreover, it has been demonstrated that the temporization of specific behaviors to specific time periods (e.g., food availability/activity period) can be beneficial regarding the manifestation of depressive- and anxiety-like behaviors ( Guerrero-Vargas et al, 2021 ); such can be easily achieved in the PhW which again can contribute to unmask depression triggering factors by lowering baseline depressive-like behaviors.…”