Restricted feeding schedules entrain behavioral and physiological circadian rhythms, which depend on a food-entrainable oscillator (FEO). The mechanism of the FEO might depend on digestive and endocrine processes regulating energy balance. The present study characterizes the dynamics of circulating corticosterone, insulin, and glucagon and regulatory parameters of liver metabolism in rats under restricted feeding schedules. With respect to ad libitum controls, food-restricted rats showed 1) an increase in corticosterone and glucagon and a decrease in insulin before food access, indicating a predominant catabolic state; and 2) a reduction in lactate-to-pyruvate and beta-hydroxybutyrate-to-acetoacetate ratios, indicating an oxidized cytoplasmic and mitochondrial redox state in the liver metabolism. All these changes were reversed after feeding. Moreover, liver energy charge in food-restricted rats did not show a significant modification before feeding, despite an increase in adenine nucleotides, but showed an important decrease after food intake. Variations detected in the liver of food-restricted rats are different from those prevailing under 24-h fasting. These observations suggest "anticipatory activity" of the liver metabolism to optimize the processing of nutrients to daily feeding. Data also suggest a possible relationship of the liver and endocrine signals with the FEO.

The presence of a food-entrainable oscillator (FEO) independent from the SCN is now well established, but until now its location and characterization have been elusive. Because its expression requires priming of the animal’s metabolism toward a catabolic state, it is possible that metabolic rhythms may be related to FEO. The present study was designed to determine whether metabolic rhythms persist during fasting and whether such rhythms could be entrained to a restricted feeding schedule. The results indicate persistent rhythms of triacylglycerides, free fatty acids, glucose, and proteins during fasting, whereas ketone bodies and liver glycogen changed their concentration as a function of fasting. Daily food pulses of 2 h entrained the rhythms of triacylglycerides and free fatty acids and restored ketone bodies and liver glycogen to similar levels as controls. Neither glucose nor proteins were affected by the food pulse. These results indicate the relevance of lipid metabolism as a phenomenon associated with the FEO.

The present study aimed to identify the hypothalamic nuclei involved with food entrainment by using c-Fos-like immunoreactivity (c-Fos-IR) as a marker of functional activation. We studied rats entrained 3 wk to restricted feeding schedules (RF), their ad libitum (AL) controls, and the persistence of c-Fos-IR temporal patterns in entrained-fasted rats. In addition, we included 22-h fasting and 22-h fasting-refeeding groups as controls of fasting and refeeding acute effects. Diurnal patterns of c-Fos-IR were observed in the tuberomammilar nucleus (TM) and suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) in AL rats. In all nuclei, except the SCN and ventromedial nucleus (VMH), restricted feeding schedules imposed a temporal pattern of increased c-Fos-IR around mealtime. An increase in c-Fos-IR before and after meal time was observed in dorsomedial nucleus (DMH), lateral nucleus (LH), perifornical area (PeF), and TM, and a marked increase was observed in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) after feeding. Food-entrained c-Fos-IR patterns persisted after 3 days in fasting in DMH, LH, and PeF. Present data suggest that FEO might not rely on a single nucleus and rather may be a distributed system constituted of interacting nuclei in which the PVN is mainly involved with the response to signals elicited by food ingestion and, therefore, with the entraining pathway. We can suggest that the PeF and TM may be involved with the arousal state during food anticipation and the DMH and LH with the time-keeping mechanism of FEO or its output.

Digestive and metabolic processes are entrained by restricted feeding (RFS) schedules and are thought to be potential elements of a food-entrained oscillator (FEO). Due to the close relationship of leptin with metabolic regulation and because leptin is a relevant communication signal of the individual's peripheral metabolic condition with the central nervous system, we explored whether leptin is an endogenous entraining signal from the periphery to a central element of an FEO. First we characterized in the rat the diurnal rhythm of serum leptin (in rats fed ad libitum (AL)), its adjustment to an RFS and the influence of fasting after RFS, or RFS followed by AL feeding and then total food deprivation (RF-AF) in the persistence of this fluctuating pattern. We also explored the response of free fatty acids and stomach weight under the same entraining conditions. We compared the metabolic response with the behavioral expression of drinking anticipatory activity (AA) under the same conditions. Finally, we tested the effect of daily i.c.v administration of leptin as a putative entraining signal for the generation of AA.Metabolic parameters responded to food entrainment by adjusting their phase to mealtime. However, leptin and free fatty acid rhythms persisted only for a few cycles in fasting conditions and readjusted to the light-darkness cycle after an RF-AF protocol. In contrast, behavioral food-entrained rhythms persisted after both fasting manipulations. Daily leptin i.c.v. administration did not produce AA, nor produce changes in the behavioral free-running rhythm. Stomach weight indicated an adaptive process allowing an extreme stomach distension followed by a slow emptying process, which suggests that the stomach may be playing a relevant role as a storage organ.In conclusion, metabolic signals here studied respond to feeding schedules by adjusting their phase to mealtime, but do only persist for a few cycles in fasting. Leptin does not produce AA and thus is not an entraining signal for FEO. The response of metabolic signals to feeding schedules depends on different mechanisms than the expression of AA.

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The suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) constitute a circadian clock in mammals, where γ-amino-butyric acid (GABA) neurotransmission prevails and participates in different aspects of circadian regulation. Evidence suggests that GABA has an excitatory function in the SCN in addition to its typical inhibitory role. To examine this possibility further, we determined the equilibrium potential of GABAergic postsynaptic currents (E GABA) at different times of the day and in different regions of the SCN, using either perforated or whole cell patch clamp. Our results indicate that during the day most neurons in the dorsal SCN have an E GABA close to −30 mV while in the ventral SCN they have an E GABA close to −60 mV; this difference reverses during the night, in the dorsal SCN neurons have an E GABA of −60 mV and in the ventral SCN they have an E GABA of −30 mV. The depolarized equilibrium potential can be attributed to the activity of the Na(+)-K(+)-2Cl(−) (NKCC) cotransporter since the equilibrium potential becomes more negative following addition of the NKCC blocker bumetanide. Our results suggest an excitatory role for GABA in the SCN and further indicate both time (day versus night) and regional (dorsal versus ventral) modulation of E GABA in the SCN.

Ryanodine-sensitive intracellular Ca2+ channels (RyRs) are present in suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) neurons, but the functions served by these channels are not known. Here we addressed whether mobilization of intracellular Ca2+ stores through the RyRs may be a link between the molecular clock and the firing rate in SCN neurons. Activation of the RyRs by administration of either 1 mM caffeine or 100 nM ryanodine increased the firing frequency, whereas inhibition of RyRs by 10 microM dantrolene or 80 microm ryanodine decreased firing rate. Similar results were obtained in experiments conducted at either midday or midnight. Furthermore, these effects were not mediated by synaptic transmission as blockade of GABA A, AMPA and NMDA receptors did not prevent the excitatory or inhibitory effects induced by either dose of ryanodine on SCN firing. We conclude that gating of RyRs is a key element of the intricate output pathway from the circadian clock within SCN neurons in rats.

A restricted schedule of food access promotes numerous metabolic and physiological adaptations to optimize the biochemical handling of nutrients. The restricted feeding activates responses in hypothalamic and midbrain areas, as well as in peripheral organs involved in energy metabolism. A restricted feeding schedule (RFS) is associated with marked behavioral arousal coincident with the food anticipatory activity (FAA) and extreme hyperphagia during food access. Food restriction is also accompanied by changes in an array of stress-related parameters, such as increase in corticosterone, slower rate in body weight gain, and reduction in retroperitoneal and epididymal adipose tissue. During RFS, the liver shows a diversity of biochemical and physiologically adaptations that are advantageous for food ingestion and processing, as well as for adequate nutrient distribution to other tissues. Taking into account the probable relationship between stressful conditions and the metabolic adaptations in the liver, we addressed whether an acute-phase response (APR), or a pro-inflammatory state, occurred after three weeks of 2 h food restriction. First, we compared the circulating levels of inflammation markers (interleukin-1alpha, interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-alpha), and APR proteins (C-reactive protein and fibrinogen) in rats under food restriction to those in rats treated with lipopolysacharide, a strong inducer of the APR. Second, the influence of RFS on the daily rhythms of systemic cytokines and APR proteins was characterized. Third, we tested if the feeding condition (22 h fasting and 2 h refeeding) influences these parameters. Finally, we assessed if a local stressed state was established in the liver associated with the restricted feeding by measuring the activation of the transcriptional factor NF-kappaB (nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells). The results showed that the following occurred during RFS: no APR was implemented; food restriction modified the rhythmic 24 h fluctuations of IL-1alpha, IL-6, TNF-alpha, and fibrinogen; simple fasting-refeeding modulated the level of IL-1alpha, IL-6, and fibrinogen, but this effect was not observed before and after food access in rats with restricted food; and food restriction produced a significant peak in NF-kappaB signal in the liver (including its translocation into the nuclei of hepatocytes) that was dependent on feeding condition, as it was coincident with the time after food access. In conclusion, the stress condition associated with RFS is not sufficient to induce an APR, but it could be related to a local stress-response within the liver.