Daily cycle in hepatic lipid metabolism in obese mice, Neotomodon alstoni: Sex differences

ABSTRACT

Disruption of circadian rhythms influences the pathogenesis of obesity, particularly with the basic regulation of food intake and metabolism. A link between metabolism and the circadian clock is the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs). The Neotomodon alstoni mouse, known as the “Mexican volcano mouse,” may develop obesity if fed a normo-caloric diet. This manuscript documents the changes in part of the hepatic lipid homeostasis in both sexes of lean and obese N. alstoni mice, comparing the daily changes in the BMAL1 clock protein, in regulators of lipid metabolism (PGC-1α, PPARα-γ, SREBP-1c, and CPT-1α) and in free fatty acid (FFA) and hepatic triacylglyceride (TAG) metabolites in light–dark cycles. Hepatic tissue and blood were collected at 5, 10, 15, 19, and 24 h. Samples were analyzed by western blotting to determine the relative presence of protein. The results indicate that obesity affects daily changes in lipid metabolism and the BMAL1 profile in females considerably more than in males. These results suggest that the impact of obesity on lipid metabolism has important differences according to sex.

KEYWORDS:

• Obesity
• Neotomodon alstoni
• daily rhythms
• sex differences
• hepatic lipids
• BMAL1

Acknowledgments

We thank Jessica Norris and Teresa Bosques-Tistler for English edition.

Declaration of interest

No conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise, are declared by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by UNAM-PAPIIT: IN212715 and IN212118. MP-M was funded by DGAPA, UNAM postdoctoral fellowship program.

Notes on contributors

Manuel Miranda-Anaya

MP-M, HAR-G and LMM-G: performed experiments and analyzed results; MP-M and JBR-Z: interpreted experiments; MP-M, JBR-Z, MD-M and MM-A: designed the study and wrote the paper.