Run, gather, or you'd better travel west: Forced desynchronization through chronic jetlag leads to metabolic disturbances

CASIRAGHI, LEANDRO; ALZAMENDI, ANA; GIOVAMBATTISTA, ANDRÉS; GOLOMBEK, DIEGO

TunuyáN

Congreso; Latin American Symposium of Chronobiology; 2013

Animal models of circadian disruption represent valuable tools for the understanding of the basis of shiftwork-related complications. In this work we describe metabolic disturbances appearing under a chronic jet lag (CJL) protocol which we have previously shown to produce forced desynchronization of activity rhythms in mice. In addition we tested for possible strategies to alleviate such negative effects. Mice were housed under a schedule consisting of 6 hour advances of the LD cycle every two days (ChrA), or under control LD, in three different cage conditions: a) individually (ChrA), b) in groups of 3-4 animals (G-ChrA), and c) individually in a cage equipped with a running wheel (W-ChrA). A fourth group was housed individually under a symmetrical delaying CJL schedule (ChrD). Weight and food intake were monitored for 30 days. Weight gain was significantly elevated in the ChrA group, while no difference was found in any of the other experimental groups. No differences were found in food intake for any group. Metabolic disturbances, including altered triglycerides blood levels and adipocytes size, were found in the ChrA group at blood and tissue levels that may underlie the weight gain observations. Our CJL model appears as a convenient one to test for metabolic disturbances related to circadian disturbances.