Time restricted eating, the dietary approach limiting food intake to a maximal 10-hour
period of daytime is considered beneficial in metabolic dysfunctions, such as obesity
and diabetes. Rhythm of food intake and parallel changes in serum nutrient levels
are also important entrainment signals for the circadian clock, particularly in tissues
involved in metabolic regulation. As both the metabolic state and the circadian clock
have large impact on immune functions, we investigated in mice whether time restricted
feeding (TRF) affects systemic inflammatory potential. TRF slackened the symptoms
in K/BxN serum-transfer arthritis, an experimental model of human autoimmune joint
inflammation. Compared to ad libitum conditions TRF reduced the expression of inflammatory
mediators in visceral adipose tissue, an integrator and coordinator of metabolic and
inflammatory processes. Furthermore, TRF strengthened the oscillation of peripheral
leukocyte counts and alongside decreased the pool of both marginated and tissue leukocytes.
Our data suggest that the altered leukocyte distribution in TRF mice is related to
the attenuated expression of adhesion molecules on the surface of neutrophils and
monocytes. We propose that TRF modifies both rhythm and inflammatory potential of
leukocytes which contribute to the milder reactivity of the immune system and therefore
time-restricted eating could serve as an effective complementary tool in the therapy
of autoinflammatory processes.
