Ciorciari Andrea Michele, Irizarry Emanuel, Montaruli Angela, Lamia Katja A
Department of Biomedical Sciences for Health, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Scripps Research, La Jolla, CA, USA.
J Pineal Res. 2025 Apr;77(3):e70057. doi: 10.1111/jpi.70057.
Core body temperature (CBT) is a crucial marker of circadian synchrony, reflecting behavioral, metabolic, and environmental adaptations. Disruptions to CBT rhythms, as seen in shift workers or jetlag, indicate desynchronization and can lead to significant health consequences. Exercise is a potent non-photic zeitgeber that may help align circadian rhythms with external cues, but its role in re-entrainment following abrupt phase shifts remains unclear. This study investigated whether voluntary exercise accelerates the re-entrainment of CBT and metabolic rhythms in mice subjected to a 12-h light-dark cycle inversion (LDI). Fifteen C57BL/6 J mice underwent LDI and were divided into two groups. Mice in the control (CTRL) group remained sedentary throughout the experiment while mice in the other group were provided running wheels for 2 weeks after LDI. CBT was continuously monitored using implanted telemetric capsules and metabolic parameters were assessed before and 2 weeks after LDI. Mice that had access to running wheels (RW mice) initially displayed a greater disruption of CBT rhythmicity following LDI, suggesting unstructured physical activity may temporarily exacerbate misalignment, acting as a conflicting signal. Despite this, exercise accelerated recovery, as the phase of the CBT rhythm in RW mice re-aligned to the new light-dark cycle faster than that of the CTRL mice did. The phase of VO₂ rhythms in RW mice also showed trends toward faster realignment. These findings highlight the dual role of exercise as a zeitgeber, capable of both disrupting and accelerating circadian realignment depending on timing. Voluntary exercise may thus serve as an effective intervention to restore circadian synchrony and metabolic homeostasis in individuals experiencing circadian disruptions.
核心体温（CBT）是昼夜节律同步的关键指标，反映了行为、代谢和环境适应性。如轮班工作者或时差反应中所见，CBT节律的紊乱表明失同步，并可能导致严重的健康后果。运动是一种强大的非光性授时因子，可能有助于使昼夜节律与外部线索同步，但其在突然相位变化后的重新同步中的作用仍不清楚。本研究调查了自愿运动是否能加速接受12小时明暗循环倒置（LDI）的小鼠的CBT和代谢节律的重新同步。15只C57BL/6 J小鼠接受了LDI，并分为两组。对照组（CTRL）的小鼠在整个实验过程中保持静止，而另一组的小鼠在LDI后提供跑轮2周。使用植入式遥测胶囊连续监测CBT，并在LDI前和LDI后2周评估代谢参数。有跑轮可用的小鼠（RW小鼠）在LDI后最初表现出CBT节律性的更大破坏，这表明无规律的体育活动可能会暂时加剧失调，成为一个冲突信号。尽管如此，运动加速了恢复，因为RW小鼠的CBT节律相位比CTRL小鼠更快地重新调整到新的明暗循环。RW小鼠的VO₂节律相位也显示出更快重新调整的趋势。这些发现突出了运动作为授时因子的双重作用，根据时间的不同，它既能破坏昼夜节律的重新调整，也能加速这种调整。因此，自愿运动可能是一种有效的干预措施，用于恢复昼夜节律紊乱个体的昼夜同步和代谢稳态。
