Fig. 2.

Phase misalignment drives reduced energy efficiency and metabolic disturbance. a Body weight and epididymal adipose tissue mass (epWAT) of mice maintained in 22.5, 24 or 27 h LD conditions for 17 week. epWAT was significantly lower in 22.5 h LD mice compared with age-matched 24 h controls (n > 7/group). b By 1 year of LD exposure, both body weight and whole-body fat mass were significantly lower in 22.5 h LD housed mice compared with matched 24 h LD mice (n = 9–10/group). c–f Diurnal rhythms and mean values for oxygen consumption (VO₂; c), energy expenditure (EE; d), respiratory exchange rate (RER; e) and carbohydrate oxidation (COx; f) for mice maintained under 22.5, 24 and 27 h LD cycles (n = 7–16/group). A significant increase in RER and COx was evident in non-24 h LD housed mice. g–i Diurnal profiles of food intake (g) and mean intake/h (h) reveal significantly increased food consumption in mice maintained under either 22.5 or 27 h LD cycles compared with 24 h LD control. Mice housed under non-24 h LD cycles also consumed more food during the light phase of the cycle (i). Diurnal profiles c–g reflect mean ± 95% CI. a, c–h ^∗ p < 0.05, ^{∗ ∗} p < 0.01 one-way ANOVA with Dunnett’s post hoc test (vs. 24 h control group); b ^{∗ ∗} p < 0.01 Students t-test; i ^∗ p < 0.05 vs. 24 h LD two-way ANOVA with Tukey’s post hoc test