Active Time-Restricted Feeding Protects the Blood Pressure Circadian Rhythm in Diabetic Mice

The quantity and quality of food intake have been considered crucial for peoples’ wellness. Only recently has it become appreciated that the timing of food intake, independent of total calorie consumption, is also critical. The involvement and contribution of the timing of food intake in nondipping blood pressure (BP), the most common disruption of the BP circadian rhythm in diabetes, however, remains uncertain. Here, we demonstrate that the loss of diurnal rhythm in food intake coincided with nondipping BP in type 2 diabetic db/db mice, and imposing a food intake diurnal rhythm by active time-restricted feeding (ATRF) remarkably prevented db/db mice from the development of nondipping BP. Moreover, ATRF, independent of calorie restriction, also effectively restored the already disrupted BP circadian rhythm in db/db mice. Mechanistically, ATRF reduced the sympathetic vascular tone and BP during the light phase via fasting, thus protecting the BP circadian rhythm in db/db mice. Moreover, we identified BMAL1, an obligatory core clock gene, as a potentially key molecule that links ATRF, sympathetic vascular tone, and BP circadian rhythm. Collectively, these data reveal an important but previously unrecognized role of the timing of food intake in the onset, prevention, and treatment of nondipping BP in diabetes.