New Research In
Physical Sciences
Social Sciences
Featured Portals
Articles by Topic
Biological Sciences
Featured Portals
Articles by Topic
- Agricultural Sciences
- Anthropology
- Applied Biological Sciences
- Biochemistry
- Biophysics and Computational Biology
- Cell Biology
- Developmental Biology
- Ecology
- Environmental Sciences
- Evolution
- Genetics
- Immunology and Inflammation
- Medical Sciences
- Microbiology
- Neuroscience
- Pharmacology
- Physiology
- Plant Biology
- Population Biology
- Psychological and Cognitive Sciences
- Sustainability Science
- Systems Biology
Light at night increases body mass by shifting the time of food intake
Edited* by David L. Denlinger, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, and approved September 3, 2010 (received for review June 24, 2010)

Abstract
The global increase in the prevalence of obesity and metabolic disorders coincides with the increase of exposure to light at night (LAN) and shift work. Circadian regulation of energy homeostasis is controlled by an endogenous biological clock that is synchronized by light information. To promote optimal adaptive functioning, the circadian clock prepares individuals for predictable events such as food availability and sleep, and disruption of clock function causes circadian and metabolic disturbances. To determine whether a causal relationship exists between nighttime light exposure and obesity, we examined the effects of LAN on body mass in male mice. Mice housed in either bright (LL) or dim (DM) LAN have significantly increased body mass and reduced glucose tolerance compared with mice in a standard (LD) light/dark cycle, despite equivalent levels of caloric intake and total daily activity output. Furthermore, the timing of food consumption by DM and LL mice differs from that in LD mice. Nocturnal rodents typically eat substantially more food at night; however, DM mice consume 55.5% of their food during the light phase, as compared with 36.5% in LD mice. Restricting food consumption to the active phase in DM mice prevents body mass gain. These results suggest that low levels of light at night disrupt the timing of food intake and other metabolic signals, leading to excess weight gain. These data are relevant to the coincidence between increasing use of light at night and obesity in humans.
Footnotes
- 1To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: fonken.1{at}osu.edu.
Author contributions: L.K.F., A.H., and R.J.N. designed research; L.K.F., J.L.W., J.C.W., and J.S.M. performed research; L.K.F., Z.M.W., and R.J.N. analyzed data; and L.K.F., Z.M.W., and R.J.N. wrote the paper.
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
↵*This Direct Submission article had a prearranged editor.
Citation Manager Formats
Sign up for Article Alerts
Jump to section
You May Also be Interested in
More Articles of This Classification
Biological Sciences
Neuroscience
Related Content
- No related articles found.
Cited by...
- Spinal Cord Injury in Rats Disrupts the Circadian System
- SCN VIP Neurons Are Essential for Normal Light-Mediated Resetting of the Circadian System
- Hormonally mediated effects of artificial light at night on behavior and fitness: linking endocrine mechanisms with function
- Desynchrony between brain and peripheral clocks caused by CK1{delta}/{varepsilon} disruption in GABA neurons does not lead to adverse metabolic outcomes
- Sensitivity of the circadian system to evening bright light in preschool-age children
- Time-Restricted Feeding Alters the Innate Immune Response to Bacterial Endotoxin
- Effects of a physical and energetic challenge on male California mice (Peromyscus californicus): modulation by reproductive condition
- Neural mechanism for hypothalamic-mediated autonomic responses to light during migraine
- Constant Light Desynchronizes Olfactory versus Object and Visuospatial Recognition Memory Performance
- A single night light exposure acutely alters hormonal and metabolic responses in healthy participants
- Predominantly nighttime feeding and weight outcomes in infants
- Endocrine regulation of circadian physiology
- Using light to tell the time of day: sensory coding in the mammalian circadian visual network
- Comparative Circadian Metabolomics Reveal Differential Effects of Nutritional Challenge in the Serum and Liver
- Prolonged daily light exposure increases body fat mass through attenuation of brown adipose tissue activity
- Endogenous circadian system and circadian misalignment impact glucose tolerance via separate mechanisms in humans
- Determinants of Shortened, Disrupted, and Mistimed Sleep and Associated Metabolic Health Consequences in Healthy Humans
- Impact of circadian misalignment on energy metabolism during simulated nightshift work
- Circadian regulation of metabolism
- Effects of caloric intake timing on insulin resistance and hyperandrogenism in lean women with polycystic ovary syndrome
- The Suprachiasmatic Nucleus Controls Circadian Energy Metabolism and Hepatic Insulin Sensitivity
- Coordination of the transcriptome and metabolome by the circadian clock
- Spectral and duration sensitivity to light-at-night in 'blind' and sighted rodent species
- Circadian Clocks in Fuel Harvesting and Energy Homeostasis