This innovative study investigates the effects of high-protein diets (milk protein) on the circadian rhythm of hepatic lipid metabolism. We aimed to understand how high-protein interventions regulate biological clock genes, maintain lipid metabolism balance, and affect the circadian rhythm of antioxidant levels in vivo. We divided 120 SPF-class C57BL/6J mice into the control, high-fat/low-protein (HF-LP), and high-fat/high-protein (HF-HP) groups. Mice were sacrificed during active (2 a.m. and 8 a.m.) and rest periods (2 p.m. and 8 p.m.). In the HF-LP group, hepatic lipid anabolic enzymes were consistently expressed at high levels, while key lipolytic enzymes slowly increased after feeding with no significant diurnal differences. This led to an abnormal elevation in blood lipid levels, a slow increase in and low levels of superoxide dismutase, and a rapid increase in malondialdehyde levels, deviating from the diurnal trend observed in the control group. However, high-protein interventions in the HF-HP group restored lipid synthase activity and the expression of key catabolic enzymes, exhibiting a precise circadian rhythm. It also improved the lipid-metabolism rhythm, which was disrupted by the high-fat diet. Overall, high-protein interventions restored the expression of key enzymes involved in lipid metabolism, improving the lipid-metabolism rhythm, which was disrupted by the high-fat diet.
Keywords: circadian rhythm; high-protein diets; lipid metabolism; obesity; transsulfuration pathway.