Differential effects of continuous and intermittent daytime food deprivation periods on metabolism and reproductive performance in diurnal zebra finches

Apr 1, 2023Hormones and behavior

How Continuous and Intermittent Daytime Fasting Affect Metabolism and Reproduction in Active Zebra Finches

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Abstract

Time-restricted feeding (TRF) significantly reduced plasma testosterone and estradiol levels in adult zebra finches.

TRF altered the expression of metabolism-related genes in the liver without affecting food intake, body mass, or blood glucose levels.
Birds under TRF experienced delays in nest-building and egg laying, leading to reduced clutch size.
Lower gene expression associated with motivation and affiliation was observed in the hypothalamus during TRF.
TRF did not impact genes linked to gonadal maturation but affected gene expression in the testes and ovaries.
These findings indicate that varying daily feeding times can influence both metabolism and reproductive performance.

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We investigated whether food availability effects on metabolism and reproduction are the result of the sum effect of daily feeding (food availability) and starvation (food deprivation) periods. Adult zebra finches were paired and subjected to a time-restricted feeding (TRF) regimen consisting of continuous and intermittent daytime food deprivation periods. Birds were given food during the 12-h day for a total of 4-h in the evening (1 4-h, hour 8-12), or in 2 splits of 2 h each (2 2-h) or 4 splits 1 h each (4 * 1-h), with controls on food ad libitum, until they had the first egg clutch. TRF caused significant changes in hepatic expression of metabolism-associated sirt1, egr1, pparα and foxo1 genes despite no difference in the food intake, body mass and blood glucose levels. Importantly, TRF resulted in a significant reduction in plasma testosterone and estradiol levels, delayed nest-building and egg laying, and reduced clutch size. Concurrently, under TRF regimes, we found a significantly lower expression of th and mtr genes linked with motivation and affiliation (but not of dio2, dio3, gnrh1 and gnih genes linked with gonadal maturation) in the hypothalamus, and of star and hook 1 genes in the testes and star, cyp19 and erα genes in the ovary. These results demonstrate the importance of daily food deprivation times on the metabolism and reproduction, and suggest a possible provisioning of energy available from daily feeding for the maintenance of body condition at the expense of reproduction performance in diurnal animals.

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Differential effects of continuous and intermittent daytime food deprivation periods on metabolism and reproductive performance in diurnal zebra finches

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