Short feeding cycles in mice influence both the liver's internal clock and the brain's main clock

Mice on an ultradian feeding schedule that lost more than 10% body mass experienced a 3.5-hour advance in body temperature rhythm.

• Restricted feeding during the resting period shifts peripheral clocks but does not affect the central clock in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN).
• Daily caloric restriction alters the SCN clock, indicated by changes in clock proteins (PER1) and vasopressin levels.
• Mice on an isocaloric ultradian feeding schedule exhibited a 1.5-hour phase-advance in body temperature rhythm while remaining nocturnal.
• Further metabolic changes under hypocaloric conditions included a larger phase-advance of body temperature rhythm and reduced PER1 expression in the SCN.
• Ultradian feeding disrupted glucose rhythmicity, but daily rhythms in liver glycogen and plasma corticosterone remained unchanged.

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