Intermittent fasting improves metabolic flexibility in short-term high-fat diet-fed mice

Four days of high-fat diet feeding can induce glucose intolerance and hepatic steatosis in mice.

• High-fat diet feeding led to immediate increased food intake during the light phase in mice.
• Glucose tolerance was significantly impaired in mice fed a high-fat diet ad libitum, but not in those fed intermittently.
• Intermittently fed mice had higher fat depot weights despite similar overall food intake and body weight compared to ad libitum mice.
• Increased lipolysis was suggested by elevated hormone sensitivity lipase phosphorylation and free fatty acid release in intermittently fed mice.
• Hepatic mRNA levels of lipogenic enzymes and liver triglyceride levels were significantly elevated in intermittently fed mice.
• Normal feeding patterns may help maintain metabolic flexibility in short-term high-fat diet-fed mice.

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