CHRONO:MEDICINE

In the second part with Prof. Satchidananda (Satchin) Panda (Regulatory Biology Laboratory at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California), we continue talking about breakthrough discoveries from past years of him and other chronobiologists. First, we discuss how the timing of medication intake could help in optimizing its effects. Then, Satchin shares his perspective on ongoing developments in the lighting industry since the discovery of the blue-light sensitive melanopsin. In both contexts, we also discuss self-limiting features of chronobiology and circadian rhythms research that may stand in the way of using chronobiological principles to achieve policy changes in clinical practice and that should ideally be overcome to collaborate better with other medical disciplines as well as the industry. Lastly, Satchin shares his simple way of measuring scientific success.

Chapters:

(00:01:14) Intro

(00:03:00) Timing medicines

(00:08:18) Self-limiting features of chronobiology

(00:15:56) Wearable technologies and chronobiology

(00:20:22) More engagement with other disciplines

(00:29:00) Daylight-mimicking electric light

(00:34:04) Funny anecdote

(00:37:45) How to measure scientific success?

(00:41:07) Satchin’s book and podcast

(00:45:09) Outro

Studies that Satchin refers to:

John Hogenesch timing of drugs paper:

“Dosing time matters”

https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aax7621

“Clocks, cancer, and chronochemotherapy”

https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abb0738

“Could a good night's sleep improve COVID-19 vaccine efficacy?”

https://doi.org/10.1016/S2213-2600(21)00126-0

“Biological rhythms in COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness in an observational cohort study of1.5 million patients”

https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI167339

Timing of pain medication intake at evening or bedtime to manage pain in the morning:

“Bedtime Single-Dose Prednisolone in Clinically Stable Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients”

https://doi.org/10.5402/2012/637204

TRF increases the robustness and numbers of genes that cycle:

“Time of feeding and the intrinsic circadian clock drive rhythms in hepatic gene expression”

https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0909591106

“Diurnal transcriptome landscape of a multi-tissue response to time-restricted feeding in mammals”

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2022.12.006

CRY double knockout mice still have metabolic rhythms upon TRF:

“Time-Restricted Feeding Prevents Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome in Mice Lacking a Circadian Clock”

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2018.08.004

“A Free-Choice High-Fat High-Sugar Diet Alters Day–Night Per2 Gene Expression in Reward-Related Brain Areas in Rats”

https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2018.00154

“Repeated exposures to daytime bright light increase nocturnal melatonin rise and maintain circadian phase in young subjects under fixed sleep schedule”

https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpregu.00211.2006

“Bright light exposure during the daytime affects circadian rhythms of urinary melatonin and salivary immunoglobulin A”

https://doi.org/10.3109/07420529909116864

“Positive effect of daylight exposure on nocturnal urinary melatonin excretion in the elderly: A cross‑sectional analysis of the HEIJO‑KYO study”

https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2012-1873

Satchin’s melanopsin discovery paper:

“Melanopsin (Opn4) Requirement for Normal Light-Induced Circadian Phase Shifting”

https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1076848

The Economist article “Light therapeutics”:

https://www.economist.com/1843/2014/12/29/the-light-therapeutic?utm_campaign=shared_article

Amandine Chaix paper that TRF is both preventative and therapeutic, 5 days TRF and 2 days not:

“Time-restricted feeding is a preventative and therapeutic intervention against diverse nutritional challenges”

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2014.11.001

Satchin’s resources:

His book: “The Circadian Code”

His podcast: “Performance around the clock” (also on Spotify)

“MyCircadianClock” app

Panda Lab homepage: ⁠https://panda.salk.edu/⁠ 

As the third spotlight for the European Biological Rhythms Society (EBRS) congress, taking place in Luebeck in Northern Germany from the 24th to 28th of August 2025, Prof. Satchidananda (Satchin) Panda (Regulatory Biology Laboratory at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California) talks about several breakthrough discoveries from past years of him and other chronobiologists. In this first part, Satchin explains the relevance of time-restricted eating (TRE) with people nowadays eating around the clock and how he faced a lot of pushback from the nutrition field after his initial discovery of TRE's health benefits in mice. We discuss how food photos eventually helped him move forward with his research. He also tells us about his memories from attending previous EBRS congresses and why you should join this year. Lastly, Satchin shares some rather unique advice for early-career researchers.

Chapters:

(0:00:40) Intro

(0:05:52) Satchin Panda

(0:09:03) People eat around the clock

(0:20:35) Analyzing food photos

(0:30:59) Is late eating or reduced fasting the problem?

(0:44:00) Diurnal changes in glucose tolerance

(0:49:07) EBRS congress memories

(0:56:57) Advice for early-career researchers

(1:05:48) Outro & Teaser to Part 2

Studies that Satchin refers to:

Time-Restricted Feeding without Reducing Caloric Intake Prevents Metabolic Diseases in Mice Fed a High-Fat Diet (Hatori et al. 2012)

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1550413112001891

A Smartphone App Reveals Erratic Diurnal Eating Patterns in Humans that Can Be Modulated for Health Benefits (Gill & Panda 2015)

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26411343/

Feasibility of time-restricted eating and impacts on cardiometabolic health in 24-h shift workers: The Healthy Heroes randomized control trial (Manoogian et al. 2022)

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2022.08.018

Satchin’s resources:

His book: “The Circadian Code”

His podcast: “Performance around the clock” (also on Spotify)

“MyCircadianClock” app

Panda Lab homepage: https://panda.salk.edu/ 

As the second spotlight for the European Biological Rhythms Society - EBRS - congress, taking place in Luebeck in Northern Germany from the 24th to 28th of August 2025, Prof. Henriette Uhlenhaut (Professor of Metabolic Programming at the Technical University of Munich, TUM, and Director of the Institute for Diabetes and Endocrinology at the Helmholtz Center in Munich) talks about glucocorticoids (such as cortisol), commonly known as the "stress hormones". We discuss how glucocorticoids regulate gene expression at many different sites within our body and how they play different roles in metabolism, immune responses and inflammation. We highlight that glucocorticoids are secreted in a strongly circadian manner and describe which kind of events can acutely increase cortisol levels independent of rhythmic secretion. In contrast to common belief, Henriette explains why high cortisol levels are not always a bad thing, highlighting important links to fasting and caloric restriction. Lastly, Henriette shares her experience attending previous EBRS congresses and why you should consider joining it this year.

Chapters:

(0:00:38) Introducing the EBRS 2025 spotlights

(0:03:39) Henriette Uhlenhaut

(0:06:08) Basics of glucocorticoids

(0:16:26) Circadian rhythm of glucocorticoids

(0:23:21) How to shift the rhythm?

(0:28:49) What events evoke a cortisol response?

(0:36:45) Stress hormones - a fair description?

(0:39:08) Cortisol vs. melatonin

(0:42:16) Link to caloric restriction

(0:50:25) EBRS experience

(0:53:45) EBRS teaser

(0:56:30) Advice for early career researchers

(1:00:28) Funny anecdote

(1:06:35) Outro

Studies that Henriette and I refer to:

Studies on the % of genes that are regulated by glucocorticoids (liver, immune cells etc.): 

https://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgen.0010016 

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2792167/ 

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/endocrinology/articles/10.3389/fendo.2020.572981/full 

Glucocorticoids universally regulate clock genes such as Per1 inevery cell type: 

https://doi.org/10.1093/emboj/20.24.7128

https://doi.org/10.1210/en.2012-1486

The more fasted you are, the higher your cortisol levels: 

https://doi.org/10.3109/10253890.2015.1121984

Light stimulates ACTH secretion = activation of thehypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis: 

https://academic.oup.com/edrv/article/41/3/bnaa002/5736359

Shifting the last meal of the day shifts cortisol secretion: 

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5483233/

Shifting sleep time shifts cortisol secretion: 

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11899833/

If the feeding time of mice is reversed, there are two peaks incorticosterone secretion: one peak driven by the central clock, and one driven by food availability: 

https://www.embopress.org/doi/full/10.1093/emboj/20.24.7128

Exercise can change cortisol secretion, also locally in tissues: 

https://link.springer.com/article/10.2165/00007256-200535050-00003#Sec4 

https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/japplphysiol.00108.2002

Maternal stress impacts the newborn: 

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2010.05.028

Caloric restriction boosts the cortisol amplitude: 

https://www.cell.com/cell-reports/fulltext/S2211-1247(15)01483-7

Symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, cough and fever show 24-hourrhythms: 

https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-78734-8_35 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0091674995702121#bib27 

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/07420528809067786

Beyond 12 to 14 hours of fasting, ketone bodies are built based on liver fat and adipose tissue: 

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10545-014-9704-9 

https://www.cell.com/trends/endocrinology-metabolism/fulltext/S1043-2760(23)00215-1 

Ketogenic diet on rhythmicity in transcriptomes of metabolic organs

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28877456

Contact:

Henriette’s research group homepage: https://www.mls.ls.tum.de/metabolism/home/

In collaboration with the organizers of the 18th Congress of the European Biological Rhythms Society - EBRS - taking place in Luebeck in Northern Germany from the 24th to 28th of August 2025, three congress speakers are interviewed to talk about their research. As the first spotlight, Prof. Michael Hastings (MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge) talks about his research journey from circatidal rhythms in marine organisms to circadian and circaannual rhythms in mammals. Our main focus is on the neurochemistry within the central clock of the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) enabling it to tell time. We discuss the most relevant factors that support the SCN in telling time, and what means the SCN has to synchronize other clocks within our body. With respect to melatonin, we discuss its role in sleep versus informing our body about the current season. We also talk about supplementing melatonin for specific populations. Lastly, Michael shares memories from attending previous EBRS congresses and why you should consider joining it this year.

Chapters:

(0:00:39) Introducing the EBRS 2025 spotlights

(0:03:51) Michael Hastings

(0:07:17) Circatidal ryhthms

(0:14:38) The central clock or SCN

(0:24:47) Different zeitgebers

(0:35:17) Melatonin

(0:46:14) Melatonin as a sleeping aid

(0:51:38) EBRS congress experience

(0:58:22) Career advice

(1:10:02) Funny anecdote

(1:13:54) Outro

Studies that Michael refers to:

Reviews on circatidal rhythms

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2008.06.041

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tig.2024.01.006

Prevalence of mutations in clock genes to make the period length shorter or longer than approx. 24 hours, rare familial sleep disorders

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-019-0476-7

Mice mutations support that the same enzymes are involved as in the human sleep disorders

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41583-018-0026-z

Period genes in the SCN are activated by light

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0092-8674(00)80494-8

Caffeine can phase shift the circadian clock

https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.aac5125

Manipulation of NPY and serotonin can shift the SCN clock

https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpregu.00320.2022

Human cortisol levels increase before awakening in anticipation of wake

https://doi.org/10.1677/JOE-07-0378

Temperature in the physiological range can act as a zeitgeber to entrain peripheral clocks

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0960-9822(02)01145-4

When interfering with neuropeptide levels within the SCN, you can entrain the SCN with temperature cycles

https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1195262

High levels of estradiol make the SCN run faster

https://doi.org/10.1126/science.557840

Melatonin is a transplacental zeitgeber

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3780553/

https://doi.org/10.1177/074873049701200603

Martha Gillette and others applied melatonin to brain slides containing the SCN, showing that this could shift the SCN clock, the sensitivity of the SCN to this melatonin effect was found to occur during daytime (when melatonin is not released naturally)

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00441-002-0576-1

GWAS papers: variance of melatonin receptor are related to the type 2 diabetes andmetabolic disorders

https://www.nature.com/articles/ng.277

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41574-018-0130-1

Contacting Michael Hastings:

Homepage: https://www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/group-leaders/h-to-m/michael-hastings/

Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠

EBRS homepage:

https://www.ebrs-online.org

In this second part, Dr. Christian Benedict (Department of Pharmaceutical Biosciences, Research and Pharmacology at Uppsala University, Sweden) explains how our sleep changes with aging and upon different challenges of adult life. We discuss the so-called gold-standard method for measuring sleep (Polysomnography, PSG) and how modern wearable technologies perform compared to PSG. In this context, Christian evaluates the potential value of measuring heart rate variability (HRV) to assess sleep quality. He also emphasizes the health threat through obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and how to use simple self-monitoring technologies to determine if you may be affected by OSA yourself. Lastly, we acknowledge poor sleep as a general health risk but also discuss limitations and problems that can arise from overstating this.

Chapters:

(0:00:12) Intro

(0:02:20) Aging and sleep

(0:11:10) Polysomnography (PSG)

(0:22:25) Sleep wearables & HRV

(0:27:07) Obstructive sleep apnea

(0:33:10) Limitations of wearables

(0:36:41) Sleep across chronotypes

(0:44:50) Poor sleep as a health risk?

(0:55:19) Outro

Studies that Christian refers to:

Meta-analysis (2004) PSG data over the lifespan

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15586779/

Paper on app findings of almost a million people asked on “how long do you sleep?”

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36509747/

Studies on PSG vs. some commercial wearables ?

https://jcsm.aasm.org/doi/10.5664/jcsm.7128

Sleep apnea: Spotlight article with Jesse Cooks and Jonathan Cedernaes

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33180697/

Lancet Respiratory Medicine review, 425 million people suffer from moderate to severeobstructive sleep apnea

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31300334/

Ad-hoc sleep apnea screening in patients admitted to the hospital, 80% are not aware of it

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19186102/

Australian study using a measurement pillow to track sleep apnea

https://www.atsjournals.org/doi/full/10.1164/rccm.202107-1761OC

Christian’s work (2015) those who have over 40 years regular sleep problems have an increased risk for Alzheimer’s

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25438949/

Studies comparing people with kids and without kids, those with kids live longer

https://jech.bmj.com/content/71/5/424

How to contact Christian Benedict:

Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-benedict-a25b1615a/

Dr. Christian Benedict (Senior Lecturer & Associate Professor at the Department of Pharmaceutical Biosciences, Research and Pharmacology at Uppsala University, Sweden) talks about how to study sleep and its relevance for our overall health. In this first part, Christian introduces us to different definitions of sleep. Together, we try to decipher the concept of sleep quality or in other words how to judge if somebody had a good night’s sleep or not. Christian also summarizes the research around the optimal duration of sleep and discusses the relevanceof spending time in different sleep stages.

Chapters:

(0:00:12) Intro

(0:03:41) Christian Benedict’s career path

(0:13:06) What is sleep?

(0:24:09) Sleep stages & sleep quality

(0:34:06) Sleep quantity/duration

(0:42:08) Outro & Teaser to Part 2

Studies that Christian refers to:

Aversive tobacco smoke during non-REM sleep

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25392505/

Epileptic patients and sleep deprivation

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29106402/

Correlations between time in different sleep stages and daytime alertness are not that good, contradictory evidence

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10678518/

Epworthsleepiness scale and sleep stages are not well correlated

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19110886/

People struggling with sleep do not necessarily differ in PSG-derived sleep stage outcomes from normally sleeping people

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29402512/

Peer feedback can impact your retrospective judgement of your last night of sleep

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24417326/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33204201/

American Society for Sleep Medicine, 7-9 hours, probably 6 and 10 hours are also fine

https://www.thensf.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/NSF-SleepDurationTiming_Background-1200x1312-1.jpg

Shorter or longer than these 6-10 hours is mostly associated with poor health outcomes

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11825133/

Christian’s work on interindividual responses in brain health outcomes to sleep loss

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36088460/

Studies showing that people who think they cope well with sleep loss are actually not doing well

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29383809/

How to contact Christian Benedict:

Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-benedict-a25b1615a/

In the second part with Prof. Christian Cajochen (Head of

More information about the Daylight Awareness Week: ⁠https://daylight.academy/daylight-awareness-week-2024/⁠

Chapters:

(0:00:12) Intro & Daylight Awareness Week

(0:00:48) Topics of this episode series

(0:02:13) Introduction to sleep

(0:04:15) Evening electric light & sleep

(0:09:42) Daylight & sleep

(0:15:47) Seasonal effects of daylight

(0:20:33) Can higher light intensities during daytime reduce negative effects of evening light?

(0:25:47) How to tackle the lack of daylight as a society?

(0:36:00) Take-home message on daylight & health

(0:37:39) Christian’s career goals & future research

(0:41:15) Funny anecdotes

(0:47:18) Outro & Teaser to Part 2

Studies that Christian refers to:

https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2869.1998.00106.x

Blue Blocker Glasses as a Countermeasure for Alerting Effects of Evening Light-Emitting Diode Screen Exposure in Male Teenagers

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2014.08.002

Evaluating the Association between Artificial Light-at-Night Exposure and Breast and Prostate Cancer Risk in Spain (MCC-Spain Study)

https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP1837

Camping Study: “Circadian Entrainment to the Natural Light-Dark Cycle across Seasons and the Weekend”

10.1016/j.cub.2016.12.041

Effect of daylight LED on visual comfort, melatonin, mood, waking performance and sleep

https://doi.org/10.1177/1477153519828419

Positive Effect of Daylight Exposure on Nocturnal Urinary Melatonin Excretion in the Elderly: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the HEIJO-KYO Study

https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2012-1873

Effect of Bright Light and Melatonin on Cognitive and Noncognitive Function in Elderly Residents of Group Care Facilities: A Randomized Controlled Trial

https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.299.22.2642

Preprint article: “Sex and seasonal variations in melatonin suppression, and alerting response to light”

https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.10.18.619012

Light therapy in non-seasonal depression: An update meta-analysis

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113247

Pre-print article: “Afternoon to early evening bright light exposure reduces later melatonin production in adolescents”

https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.10.02.616112

Regular Caffeine Intake Delays REM Sleep Promotion and Attenuates Sleep Quality in Healthy Men

https://doi.org/10.1177/07487304211013995

Evidence that the Lunar Cycle Influences Human Sleep

10.1016/j.cub.2013.06.029

How to contact Christian Cajochen:

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @ollen44

LinkeIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-cajochen-1435258/

As part of the Daylight Awareness Week (28th of October - 2nd of November 2024), Prof. Christian Cajochen (Head of the Centre for Chronobiology at the University of Basel in Switzerland) talks about the impact of daylight on our health, with a special focus on sleep. In the first part, we talk about the importance of light for the circadian timing system within our bodies, with melatonin playing an important role. Christian explains why light can have very different effects on our health depending on the time of day of light exposure, and highlights the most important time to see daylight. Christian points out the benefits of daylight particularly for older people. We also critically discuss how difficult it is to study the health effects of daylight without any confounding from other "side-benefits" outdoors. And lastly, we discuss the effects of light on our cardiovascular system (like heart rate and blood pressure) as well as alertness.

More information about the Daylight Awareness Week: https://daylight.academy/daylight-awareness-week-2024/

Chapters:

(0:00:12) Intro & Daylight Awareness Week

(0:02:10) Topics of this episode series

(0:03:33) Introducing Christian Cajochen

(0:08:21) Daylight vs. electric light

(0:13:28) Circadian clocks & melatonin

(0:20:31) Wavelength dependency

(0:23:13) Timing of light matters

(0:30:43) How to study health effects of daylight without confounders?

(0:38:32) Light & Cardiovascular health

(0:45:31) Warm feet to promote sleep

(0:52:14) Light & Blood pressure

(0:56:11) Outro & Teaser to Part 2

Studies that Christian refers to:

The aging clock: circadian rhythms and later life

https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI90328

A Phase Response Curve to Single Bright Light Pulses in Human Subjects

https://doi.org/10.1113/jphysiol.2003.040477

Positive Effect of Daylight Exposure on Nocturnal Urinary Melatonin Excretion in the Elderly: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the HEIJO-KYO Study

https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2012-1873

The biological clock tunes the organs of the body: timing by hormones and the autonomic nervous system

https://doi.org/10.1677/joe.0.1770017

Light activates the adrenal gland: Timing of gene expression and glucocorticoid release

10.1016/j.cmet.2005.09.009

Warm feet promote the rapid onset of sleep

https://www.nature.com/articles/43366

Functional link between distal vasodilation and sleep-onset latency?

https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpregu.2000.278.3.R741

Changing color and intensity of LED lighting across the day impacts on circadian melatonin rhythms and sleep in healthy men

https://doi.org/10.1111/jpi.12714

Circadian mechanisms of 24-hour blood pressure regulation and patterning

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2016.02.003

Alerting effects of light

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2007.07.009

How to contact Christian Cajochen:

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @ollen44

LinkeIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-cajochen-1435258/

After discussing in the first part how caloric restriction can extend lifespan, Dr. Victoria Acosta-Rodriguez (Leader of the Circadian Biology of Aging Unit at the National Institute on Aging (NIA), USA) talks in the second part about her recent study showing that eating these reduced calories always at a certain time of day extends the lifespan of mice even further. Beyond longevity, her study reveals that enhanced health benefits are achieved when feeding versus fasting times are aligned with the natural active and rest phase of mice as dictated by circadian clocks. In the end, we discuss the feasibility of long-term caloric restriction for humans and if similar health benefits could be expected in humans.

Chapters:

(00:00:45) Recap Part 1

(00:01:28) Part 2 topics

(00:02:09) Interview start

(00:03:28) Explaining the study design

(00:10:01) What kind of food did mice eat and why?

(00:13:56) Body weight changes over the lifespan

(00:15:58) Relevance of fasting duration

(00:19:45) A calorie is a calorie?

(00:22:47) The longest-lived mice

(00:25:49) Cause of death for 300 mice

(00:29:46) Physical activity as a survival predictor

(00:31:56) Body composition & metabolic health

(00:35:55) 48-hour liver samples

(00:47:18) Study limitations

(00:51:59) Monkey studies

(00:55:16) Feasibility of caloric restriction for humans

(00:59:21) Personal perspective

(01:09:00) Outro

Main study that we will discuss in depth:

Acosta-Rodriguez, V., Rijo-Ferreira, F., Izumo, M.,

Additional papers that Victoria refers to:

Rhesus Monkeys - Caloric restriction & Lifespan

Mattison, J. A. et al. Impact of caloric restriction on health and survival in rhesus monkeys from the NIA study. Nature 489, 318–321 (2012).

Colman, R. J. et al. Caloric restriction reduces age-related and all-cause mortality in rhesus monkeys. Nat. Commun. 5, 3557 (2014).

Mattison, J. A. et al. Caloric restriction improves health and survival of rhesus monkeys. Nat. Commun. 8, 14063 (2017).

Humans -TRF

Sutton, E.F., Beyl, R., Early, K.S., Cefalu, W.T., Ravussin, E., and Peterson, C.M. (2018). Early Time-Restricted Feeding Improves Insulin Sensitivity, Blood Pressure, and Oxidative Stress Even without Weight Loss in Men with Prediabetes. Cell Metab 27, 1212-1221 e1213. 10.1016/j.cmet.2018.04.010.

Humans - CALERIE study

Martin, C. K. et al. Effect of calorie restriction on mood, quality of life, sleep, and sexual function in healthy nonobese adults: the CALERIE 2 randomized clinical trial. JAMA Intern. Med. 176, 743–752 (2016).

Das, S. K. et al. Body-composition changes in the Comprehensive Assessment of Long-term Effects of Reducing Intake of Energy (CALERIE)-2 study: a 2-year randomized controlled trial of calorie restriction in nonobese humans. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 105, 913–927 (2017).

Mice – NIA Intervention Testing Program

https://www.nia.nih.gov/research/dab/interventions-testing-program-itp

 Francesca Macchiarini, Richard A. Miller, Randy

Chapter 10 - NIA Interventions Testing Program: A collaborative approach for investigating interventions to promote healthy aging, In Handbooks of Aging, Handbook of the Biology of Aging (Ninth Edition),

https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-815962-0.00010-X

Contact: Dr. Victoria Acosta-Rodriguez

Email: [email protected]

Twitter/X: @VickyAcostaR

Dr. Victoria Acosta-Rodriguez (Leader of the Circadian Biology of Aging Unit at the National Institute on Aging (NIA), USA) talks about her research on longevity and caloric restriction. In this first part, Victoria introduces us to longevity research: what kind of interventions and drugs are known to promote longevity and why precise terminology separating life- and healthspan is important. We discuss how the lifespan of mice relates to the lifespan of humans and to what degree we can therefore translate mice studies to the human setting. As we will learn, one intervention to promote longevity is caloric restriction, that is why Victoria also summarizes our current understanding of caloric restriction and defines its different forms.

Chapters:

(00:00:45) Podcast name and host updates

(00:02:51) Introducing Victoria Acosta-Rodriguez

(00:04:43) Interview start

(00:05:26) Victoria’s personal background

(00:09:04) Terminology: Lifespan vs. healthspan

(00:12:25) What interventions promote longevity?

(00:17:24) Defining caloric restriction

(00:21:57) Relevance of feeding time for mice

(00:30:12) Mice vs. humans for longevity studies

(00:38:25) Changes in circadian rhythms upon aging?

(00:44:26) Outro

Main study that we will discuss in depth:

Acosta-Rodriguez, V., Rijo-Ferreira, F., Izumo, M.,

Additional papers that Victoria refers to:

Mice - time-restricted feeding, regular chow

Damiola, F., Le Minh, N., Preitner, N., Kornmann, B.,

Mice - on a high-fat diet & time-restricted feeding

Kohsaka, A., Laposky, A.D., Ramsey, K.M., Estrada, C.,

Arble, D.M., Bass, J., Laposky, A.D., Vitaterna, M.H.,

Vollmers, C., Gill, S., DiTacchio, L., Pulivarthy,

Hatori, M., Vollmers, C., Zarrinpar, A., DiTacchio, L., Bushong, E.A., Gill, S., Leblanc, M., Chaix, A., Joens, M., Fitzpatrick, J.A., et al. (2012). Time-restricted feeding without reducing caloric intake prevents metabolic diseases in mice fed a high-fat diet. Cell Metab 15, 848-860. 10.1016/j.cmet.2012.04.019.

Mice -Calories, Fasting &

Mitchell, S.J., Bernier, M., Mattison, J.A., Aon, M.A., Kaiser, T.A., Anson, R.M., Ikeno, Y., Anderson, R.M., Ingram, D.K., and de Cabo, R. (2019). Daily Fasting Improves Health and Survival in Male Mice Independent of Diet Composition and Calories. Cell Metab 29, 221-228 e223. 10.1016/j.cmet.2018.08.011.

Mitchell, S.J., Madrigal-Matute, J., Scheibye-Knudsen, M., Fang, E., Aon, M., Gonzalez-Reyes, J.A., Cortassa, S., Kaushik, S., Gonzalez-Freire, M., Patel, B., et al. (2016). Effects of Sex, Strain, and Energy Intake on Hallmarks of Aging in Mice. Cell Metab 23, 1093-1112. 10.1016/j.cmet.2016.05.027.

Acosta-Rodriguez, V.A., de Groot, M.H.M., Rijo-Ferreira, F., Green, C.B., and Takahashi, J.S. (2017). Mice under Caloric Restriction Self-Impose a Temporal Restriction of Food Intake as Revealed by an Automated Feeder System. Cell Metab 26, 267-277 e262. 10.1016/j.cmet.2017.06.007.

Acosta-Rodriguez, V.A., Rijo-Ferreira, F., Green, C.B., and Takahashi, J.S. (2021). Importance of circadian timing for aging and longevity. Nat Commun 12, 2862. 10.1038/s41467-021-22922-6.

Contact: Dr. Victoria Acosta-Rodriguez

Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠

Twitter/X: @VickyAcostaR