Nocturnal Light Pollution Induces Weight Gain in Mice and Reshapes the Structure, Functions, and Interactions of Their Colonic Microbiota

José Sarmiento, Rodrigo Pulgar, Dinka Mandakovic, Omar Porras, Carlos A. Flores, Diego Luco, Carlos A. Trujillo, Briam Díaz-Esquivel, Cinthya Alvarez, Alejandro Acevedo, Marcelo A. Catalán*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

In mammals, the daily variation in the ecology of the intestinal microbiota is tightly coupled to the circadian rhythm of the host. On the other hand, a close correlation between increased body weight and light pollution at night has been reported in humans and animal models. However, the mechanisms underlying such weight gain in response to light contamination at night remain elusive. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that dim light pollution at night alters the colonic microbiota of mice, which could correlate with weight gain in the animals. By developing an experimental protocol using a mouse model that mimics light contamination at night in urban residences (dLAN, dim light at night), we found that mice exposed to dLAN showed a significant weight gain compared with mice exposed to control standard light/dark (LD) photoperiod. To identify possible changes in the microbiota, we sampled two stages from the resting period of the circadian cycle of mice (ZT0 and ZT10) and evaluated them by high-throughput sequencing technology. Our results indicated that microbial diversity significantly differed between ZT0 and ZT10 in both LD and dLAN samples and that dLAN treatment impacted the taxonomic composition, functions, and interactions of mouse colonic microbiota. Together, these results show that bacterial taxa and microbial metabolic pathways might be involved with the mechanisms underlying weight gain in mice subjected to light contamination at night.

Original languageEnglish
Article number1673
JournalInternational Journal of Molecular Sciences
Volume23
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 2022
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Catalysis
  • Molecular Biology
  • Spectroscopy
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
  • Organic Chemistry
  • Inorganic Chemistry

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