AUTHOR=Zou Sen , Liu Jiangman , Si Hongli , Huang Duliurui , Qi Di , Pei Xiaoting , Lu Dingli , Huang Shenzhen , Li Zhijie 

TITLE=High-fat intake reshapes the circadian transcriptome profile and metabolism in murine meibomian glands

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Nutrition

VOLUME=10

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nutrition/articles/10.3389/fnut.2023.1146916

DOI=10.3389/fnut.2023.1146916

ISSN=2296-861X

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Background</title><p>Nutritional and food components reshape the peripheral clock and metabolism. However, whether food challenges affect the circadian clock and metabolism of meibomian glands (MGs) has not been fully explored. This study was designed to analyze alterations in the rhythmic transcriptome and metabolism of MGs of murine fed a balanced diet or a high-fat diet (HFD).</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>Male C57BL/6J mice were maintained on a 12/12 h light/dark cycle and fed <italic>ad libitum</italic> on normal chow (NC) or HFD for 4 weeks. MGs were collected from sacrificed animals at 3-h intervals throughout a 24-h circadian cycle. The circadian transcriptome of MGs was analyzed <italic>via</italic> bioinformatics approaches using high-throughput RNA sequencing (RNA-seq). In addition, circadian oscillations of lipid components in MGs were analyzed.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>Meibomian glands displayed robust transcriptome rhythmicity. HFD feeding significantly altered the circadian transcriptome profile of MGs—including composition and phase—and spatiotemporally affected the enriched signaling pathways. In addition, HFD feeding significantly altered the normal rhythmic oscillations of lipid components in MGs.</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title><p>Our data show that HFD significantly affects MGs’ rhythmicity, which reveals a high sensitivity of MGs’ clocks to lipid composition in food.</p></sec>