School of Biological Sciences, National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), HBNI, Jatni, Odisha, India.
Homi Bhabha National Institute, Training School Complex, Anushaktinagar, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
Eur J Neurosci. 2023 May;57(9):1498-1515. doi: 10.1111/ejn.15972. Epub 2023 Mar 30.
A healthy state of life suggests not only a disease-free condition but also normal psychological functioning and behaviour. To maintain a healthy life, the duration of light exposure is a crucial factor. Perturbation of the standard light-dark cycle (LD: 12 h light-12 h dark in mice) may result in brain, behavioural and physiological abnormalities. The current study determined the effects of 3 and 5 weeks of constant darkness (DD: 00 h light-24 h dark) on the behaviour, hormones, prefrontal cortex (PFC) and metabolome of male and female C57BL/6 J mice. We also studied 3 weeks of restoration in LD following 5 weeks of DD exposure. The results revealed that 3 weeks of DD affected male mice more than females, and 5 weeks of DD had a comparable impact on behaviour, hormones and the PFC of male and female mice. After restoration in LD, the DD-induced changes reverted to time-matched LD conditions in male and female mice. Furthermore, metabolome analysis corroborated male and female mice's behavioural and molecular kinetics. The present study laid the foundation for understanding how DD affects behaviour and the PFC as a function of (a) time and (b) sex and described the roles of stress and sex hormones, cytokines, neurotrophins and metabolic pathways.
健康的生活状态不仅意味着没有疾病，还包括正常的心理功能和行为。为了保持健康的生活，光照时间是一个关键因素。标准的明暗周期（LD：小鼠 12 小时光照-12 小时黑暗）的扰乱可能导致大脑、行为和生理异常。本研究确定了连续 3 周和 5 周的完全黑暗（DD：0 小时光照-24 小时黑暗）对雄性和雌性 C57BL/6J 小鼠的行为、激素、前额叶皮层（PFC）和代谢组的影响。我们还研究了在 5 周 DD 暴露后恢复 3 周 LD 的情况。结果表明，3 周的 DD 对雄性小鼠的影响大于雌性小鼠，5 周的 DD 对雄性和雌性小鼠的行为、激素和 PFC 产生了类似的影响。在恢复 LD 后，DD 诱导的变化在雄性和雌性小鼠中恢复到与时间匹配的 LD 条件。此外，代谢组学分析证实了雄性和雌性小鼠的行为和分子动力学。本研究为理解 DD 如何影响行为和 PFC 提供了基础，这取决于（a）时间和（b）性别，并描述了应激和性激素、细胞因子、神经营养因子和代谢途径的作用。
