Time-restricted feeding (TRF) has been shown to improve the disordered metabolic and immunologic functions associated with obesity, however little is known about its post-effects after the cessation of TRF practice. In the current study, we determined how long the effects of TRF persist, and whether the effects are tissue-dependent. There were four groups of mice in this study: overweight and obese mice were randomized into (1) TRF group (TRF for 6 weeks), (2) post-TRF group (TRF for 4 weeks and later ad libitum), (3) continuous ad libitum of high-fat diet (HFD-AL), and (4) the lean control-fed low-fat diet ad libitum. Blood, liver, and adipose tissues were collected to measure the metabolic, inflammatory, and immune cell parameters. The results showed that TRF withdrawal quickly led to increased body weight/adiposity and reversed fasting blood glucose. However, fasting insulin and insulin resistance index HOMA-IR remained lower in the post-TRF than in the HFD-AL group. In addition, TRF-induced reduction in blood monocytes waned in the post-TRF group, but the TRF effects on mRNA levels of proinflammatory immune cells (macrophages Adgre1 and Itgax) and cytokine (Tnf) in adipose tissue remained lower in the post-TRF group than in the HFD-AL group. Furthermore, the TRF group was protected from the down-regulation of Pparg mRNA expression in adipose tissue, which was also observed in the post-TRF group to a lesser extent. The post-TRF animals displayed liver mass similar to those in the TRF group, but the TRF effects on the mRNA of inflammation markers in the liver vanished completely. Together, these results indicate that, although the lasting effects of TRF may differ by tissues and genes, the impact of TRF on adipose tissue inflammation and immune cell infiltration could last a couple of weeks, which may, in part, contribute to the maintenance of insulin sensitivity even after the cessation of TRF.
Keywords: after-effects; inflammation; obesity; post-effects; time-restricted feeding.