Naturally-derived chronobiotics in chrononutrition
Introduction
Every 24 h, the earth rotates once around its axis, exposing live organisms to predictable fluctuations of light and temperature. To optimally adjust their behavior, metabolism, and physiology living organisms developed an internal system called “circadian clock”. This clock has evolved as an autonomous timekeeping system that aligns behavioral patterns (including food intake) to daytime/nighttime and supports the body functions by anticipating and coordinating the required metabolic programs. The brain is the master organ controlling circadian rhythmicity by responding to environmental light and darkness cues called Zeitgebers (Reinke & Asher, 2019).
Each body cell is equipped with its circadian clock (a.k.a. oscillator) to achieve the timely homeostasis of the entire organism. This master clock confers rhythmicity by controlling rate-limiting steps in the cell's daily metabolic program (Kiehn et al., 2017, Reinke and Asher, 2019). Circadian rhythms, cycles with a recurrent periodicity also respond to Zeitgebers (Herzog, 2007), and are responsible for controlling different physiological processes such as sleep & wake cycles, body temperature, cardiovascular activity, hunger/appetite, endocrine hormone secretion, and renal function (Zee, Attarian, & Videnovic, 2013).
Disruption of the circadian clock by external (e.g. night shift-work or jet-lag) or internal desynchronization (e.g. nyctalopia, aging), negatively affects rest-to-activity cycles, leading to various health problems including individual psychiatric and metabolic disorders such as obesity, diabetes, hyperglycemia, and cancer (Pfeffer et al., 2018, Zee et al., 2013). For example, transient timing changes such as summer time changes are associated with increased risk of acute myocardial infarction (Tarquini, Carbone, Martinez, & Mazzoccoli, 2019). The physiologic disruption of circadian rhythms may also accelerate lung tumorigenesis (Papagiannakopoulos et al., 2016) by affecting its initiation-progression- metastasis continuum (Masri & Sassone-Corsi, 2018). Furthermore, experimental and clinical studies have consistently demonstrated that altering of circadian rhythms may enhance the development and progression of digestive pathologies, such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), a fact linked to dysmotility or changes in microbiota composition (Codoñer-Franch & Gombert, 2018). Consequently, research has focused on chrono-therapeutic approaches, as an additive, and noninvasive treatment aid to deal with several illnesses; for example, bright light therapy (BLT), wake therapy, and sleep phase are used in the treatment of adult depression (Kirschbaum-Lesch, Holtmann, & Legenbauer, 2019).
The first part of this narrative review (Siddaway, Wood, & Hedges, 2019) relates to the metabolomics regulation of peripheral circadian clocks and their synchronization. The second part deals with evidence on the effects of specific nutrients/xenobiotics, all of them known as naturally-derived chronobiotics, in the chrononutrition area, and their relation with normal and abnormal metabolism and non-communicable chronic diseases (NCCD) such as cancer, liver diseases and insulin resistance.
Section snippets
Method
In selecting the search strategy and classification of the information included herein, the recommendations of Siddaway et al. (2019) were followed. Briefly, to ensure ‘state of the art’ scientific communications in the field of ‘chrononutrition’ and ‘chronobiotics’, a cursory search of articles' titles or abstracts (tiab) using these exact searching terms or their associated Medical Subject Heading (MeSH; https://meshb-prev.nlm.nih.gov/search) codes [circadian rhythm (MeSH D002940), circadian
History of the study of biological rhythms
Biological rhythms in plants and animals date from 5000 B.C. Hippocrates (1955, century IV B.C.) described the relation between biological rhythmicity, seasonality, time of day, and age with the incidence of some diseases (Fig. 1). In this era, Androsthenes of Thasos also described the cyclical opening of the tamarind plant (Bretzl, 1903); however, Sanctorius was the first to design a “chronobiology laboratory” in 1657 and use an “autorhytmometric method” in 1711 (Reinberg & Smolensky, 1983).
Regulation of the master and peripheral clocks
Circadian rhythms are generated endogenously and regulated by a master or central clock located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), in the anterior hypothalamus of mammals. The SCN contains approximately 15–20,000 neurons which have the remarkable feature of oscillating with a 24 h based rhythm. However, they do not function in isolation from their surroundings; instead, they are entrained by external cues. Light has been described as the most potent synchronizer in humans, allowing us to
Food as synchronizers of peripheral clocks
British adults with more irregular food consumption, especially during breakfast and between meals, showed increased cardiometabolic risk, as well as a higher risk of obesity and metabolic syndrome, despite consuming less energy (Pot, Hardy, & Stephen, 2014). However, the study did not evaluate the relationship of diet characteristics (mealtime and food consumption) and the circadian rhythm suggested as determinants of the circadian rhythm synchronization that can directly influence metabolic
Influence of nutrients on circadian rhythms and clock gene expression in different tissues
Single nutrients such as sodium, amino acids, caffeine, cinnamic acid, nobiletin, palmitate, theophylline, thiamine, ethanol, and retinoic acid can reset or phase-shift circadian rhythms according to in vitro or animal studies (Fig. 3) (Froy, 2007; Oike, 2017). For instance, glucose can activate circadian gene expression of Per1, Per2, and Bmal1 suggesting a role in the synchronization of central and peripheral clocks (Oosterman et al., 2014). Amino acids have also been reported as circadian
Gut microbiota and peripheral clocks
Microbiome plays an essential role in regulating many physiological processes including digestion of food components, host metabolism, immune system, epithelial homeostasis, host behavior, and cognitive function (Mukherji, Kobiita, Ye, & Chambon, 2013). Interestingly, gut microbiota also influences the circadian clock, displaying circadian oscillations, characterized by day-night changes in composition or function of the intestinal microbiome, and its interaction with the host can also affect
Sleep efficiency
Sleep loss has recently been recognized as a public health concern increasingly prevalent in our society. A third of the United States population obtains insufficient regular sleep, with adverse health consequences including metabolic and mental disorders affecting human physiology and behavior (Liu, 2016). Sleep loss has also been associated with deficits in attention, cognition, metabolism, hormonal balance, mood, and cardiovascular function (Aguirre, 2016).
The intake of Jerte Valley cherries
Ingenuity/knowledge gap
The desynchronization of the circadian rhythms either in the central clock or one of the peripheral clocks can be caused by external or internal cues, adversely impacting various diseases particularly related to metabolic and neurological problems. This necessitates the development of molecular modulators of circadian rhythms, for example food components such as bioactive compounds, specific feeding schedules or different diet types. The evidence suggests that bioactive compounds can correct
Declaration of competing interest
The authors report no conflicts of interest.
Acknowledgements
Author E. Dufoo-Hurtado thanks the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT-Mexico) for the support of a Ph D. scholarship (779172). The authors would like to thank Dr. Mario Enrique Rodríguez García (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Centro de Física Aplicada y Tecnología Avanzada, México), and Dr. B. Dave Oomah (Retired; Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Summerland, British Columbia, Canada) for their valuable support to this paper.
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2022, LWTCitation Excerpt :When comparing to FOS, no significant difference (p < 0.05) was observed in the butyrate percentage in PU and OE. The importance of increasing or promoting the production of butyrate relies on its effect on circadian rhythms, being considered an important chronobiotic, and on its use as source of energy by colonocytes, besides its many other positive health implications derived from DF consumption (Dufoo-Hurtado, Wall-Medrano, & Campos-Vega, 2020; Koh et al., 2016; Williams et al., 2017; Wong et al., 2006). An in vitro fermentation of germinated soybean/cornstarch extrudate was studied (Cruz-Ortiz et al., 2020).