Time-restricted eating improves intermittent hypoxia-induced dysglycemia

In IH, TRE mitigates adverse hypoxic effects on glucose homeostasis, via improvements in pancreatic insulin secretion. Some beneficial glycemic effects of TRE are accentuated in IH. TRE may represent a novel therapeutic strategy in OSA. Statement of Significance Obstructive sleep apnea is associated with metabolic dysfunction, including adverse changes to glucose and cholesterol homeostasis. Chronic intermittent hypoxia (IH) modeling OSA in animals reproduces many of these effects. Time-restricted eating (TRE), in which the window for caloric intake is shortened, improves many aspects of metabolic syndrome in animals and humans. We exposed mice to IH and assessed the effects of TRE, hypothesizing that TRE would improve glucose tolerance. TRE had uniquely advantageous effects in IH, improving both fasting glucose and glucose tolerance, as well as serum LDL cholesterol. We demonstrated that these beneficial TRE effects are associated with improvements in pancreatic islet function and proinsulin-to-insulin conversion, as well as reduction in miR-152-3p.