Cover Story Current Issue

Glucose is a ubiquitous and essential source of energy for all living organisms. Although mammals have evolved ways to convert other nutritional molecules to ATP, the preference for dietary glucose appears to be preserved. In rodents, the immediate detection of ingested glucose potently reinforces intake, hierarchically organizing behaviors towards glucose-yielding substances, and away from other types of food including other sugars. Taste is the primary sense linked to nutrient selection. Until recently, it was thought that most mammalian species utilize a single broadly tuned receptor to detect all simple sugars. Indeed, this “sweet” receptor, which comprises a heterodimer of the T1R2 and T1R3 proteins, binds multiple natural sugars (e.g., glucose, fructose, sucrose, maltose), as well as various other chemicals that yield little to no energy (e.g., low calorie sweeteners, sugar alcohols) and some d-amino acids. The neural signal originating from the sweet receptor is hardwired into brain circuits that drive eating and drinking behaviors, but it is an unreliable indicator of nutrient quality and quantity.

Full text

 

Current Issue

IL-6 decodes sex and diet-dependent circadian and metabolic rhythms

Antía González-Vila, Ali Mohammad Ibrahim-Alasoufi, María Luengo-Mateos, Víctor Pardo-García, ... Olga Barca-Mayo

IL-6 decodes sex and diet-dependent circadian and metabolic rhythms

 

Objective

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a pleiotropic cytokine involved in immune regulation and energy metabolism. Its diurnal secretion influences core circadian components, emphasizing its critical role in circadian biology. Despite known sex differences in immune, circadian, and metabolic processes, how IL-6 integrates these processes remains poorly understood.

Methods

IL6 knockout (KO) and control mice of both sexes were phenotyped for circadian and metabolic traits under standard (STD) and high-fat diet (HFD), fasting, and time-restricted feeding. Molecular analyses in muscle, liver, and hypothalamus assessed clock gene expression and IL-6 signaling pathway. Circulating sex steroid hormones were quantified to examine their contribution to the observed sex-specific phenotypes.

Results

IL-6 deficiency disrupts circadian locomotor and metabolic rhythms in a sex- and diet-dependent manner. Males exhibit impaired light-driven circadian rhythms under STD conditions and metabolic misalignment under HFD, whereas females display greater circadian resilience under STD conditions but increased vulnerability to circadian disruption during HFD. Additionally, IL-6 emerges as a novel regulator of the food-entrainable oscillator (FEO), linking food anticipatory activity and metabolic cycles under both STD and HFD in a sex-dependent manner.

Conclusions

These findings identify IL-6 as a critical mediator of circadian-metabolic plasticity, shaping sex- and diet-specific trade-offs between circadian stability and metabolic homeostasis. Our study highlights IL-6 as a potential therapeutic target for mitigating circadian misalignment-associated metabolic disorders, with implications for the timed modulation of IL-6 signaling.

 

 

Articles in Press

IL-6 decodes sex and diet-dependent circadian and metabolic rhythms

Antía González-Vila, Ali Mohammad Ibrahim-Alasoufi, María Luengo-Mateos, Víctor Pardo-García, ... Olga Barca-Mayo

IL-6 decodes sex and diet-dependent circadian and metabolic rhythms

 

Objective

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a pleiotropic cytokine involved in immune regulation and energy metabolism. Its diurnal secretion influences core circadian components, emphasizing its critical role in circadian biology. Despite known sex differences in immune, circadian, and metabolic processes, how IL-6 integrates these processes remains poorly understood.

Methods

IL6 knockout (KO) and control mice of both sexes were phenotyped for circadian and metabolic traits under standard (STD) and high-fat diet (HFD), fasting, and time-restricted feeding. Molecular analyses in muscle, liver, and hypothalamus assessed clock gene expression and IL-6 signaling pathway. Circulating sex steroid hormones were quantified to examine their contribution to the observed sex-specific phenotypes.

Results

IL-6 deficiency disrupts circadian locomotor and metabolic rhythms in a sex- and diet-dependent manner. Males exhibit impaired light-driven circadian rhythms under STD conditions and metabolic misalignment under HFD, whereas females display greater circadian resilience under STD conditions but increased vulnerability to circadian disruption during HFD. Additionally, IL-6 emerges as a novel regulator of the food-entrainable oscillator (FEO), linking food anticipatory activity and metabolic cycles under both STD and HFD in a sex-dependent manner.

Conclusions

These findings identify IL-6 as a critical mediator of circadian-metabolic plasticity, shaping sex- and diet-specific trade-offs between circadian stability and metabolic homeostasis. Our study highlights IL-6 as a potential therapeutic target for mitigating circadian misalignment-associated metabolic disorders, with implications for the timed modulation of IL-6 signaling.

 

 

SAVE THE DATE!

13th
Helmholtz Diabetes Conference 
Munich, 21-23. Sep 2026

2024 impact factor: 6.6

You are what you eat

Here is a video of Vimeo. When the iframes is activated, a connection to Vimeo is established and, if necessary, cookies from Vimeo are also used. For further information on cookies policy click here.

Auf Werbeinhalte, die vor, während oder nach Videos von WEBSITE-URL eingeblendet werden, hat WEBSITE-URL keinen Einfluss. Wir übernehmen keine Gewähr für diese Inhalte. Weitere Informationen finden Sie hier.