Dim blue light at night worsens high-fat diet-induced kidney damage via increasing corticosterone levels and modulating the expression of circadian clock genes

Obesity is a contributing factor that increases the likelihood of developing chronic kidney disease. In recent years, studies have found that light pollution worldwide promoted obesity, which was known to be a consequence of circadian rhythm disruption. Nevertheless, the impact of light pollution on...

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Main Authors: Wenji Ren, Zixu Wang, Yulan Dong, Jing Cao, Ting Gao, Qingyun Guo, Yaoxing Chen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-01-01
Series:Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147651324017123
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author Wenji Ren
Zixu Wang
Yulan Dong
Jing Cao
Ting Gao
Qingyun Guo
Yaoxing Chen
author_facet Wenji Ren
Zixu Wang
Yulan Dong
Jing Cao
Ting Gao
Qingyun Guo
Yaoxing Chen
author_sort Wenji Ren
collection DOAJ
description Obesity is a contributing factor that increases the likelihood of developing chronic kidney disease. In recent years, studies have found that light pollution worldwide promoted obesity, which was known to be a consequence of circadian rhythm disruption. Nevertheless, the impact of light pollution on kidney disease associated with obesity remains mostly unknown, and potential processes have been minimally investigated. Herein, we fed mice a high-fat diet and gave them dim white (dWL), blue (dBL), green (dGL), and red (dRL) light for 12 weeks. Our results showed that both dWL and dBL tended to be more susceptible to damage to kidney dysfunction caused by a high-fat diet compared to LD, with more pronounced changes in dBL. The analysis of kidney found that dBL activated the TGF-β1/Smad signaling pathway to promote epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in the kidney. Additionally, dBL activated the NF-κB signaling pathway and resulted in elevated protein levels of TLR4, p-IκB, p-P65, and TNF-α. Furthermore, dBL increased BAX protein levels and decreased BCL2 protein levels. At the same time, dBL affected the Keap1/Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway, elevating KEAP1 and decreasing NRF2 and HO-1 protein levels. We were surprised to find that dBL altered the expression of the circadian clock genes, resulting in a decrease in the positively regulated genes Bmal1, Clock, and an increase in the negatively regulated genes Per1, Per2, Per3. Mechanistically, dBL increased plasma CORT levels as well as decreased renal GR α expression, and in vitro experiments showed that the circadian clock genes were altered by the addition of CORT and returned to normal levels after the addition of the GR inhibitor RU486. Consequently, dBL can exacerbate renal injury by elevating plasma CORT levels and altering rhythmic changes by acting on the biological clock via GR.
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publishDate 2025-01-01
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spelling doaj-art-f534e26c70ae4b498ee2a8edb6a734112025-01-23T05:25:55ZengElsevierEcotoxicology and Environmental Safety0147-65132025-01-01289117636Dim blue light at night worsens high-fat diet-induced kidney damage via increasing corticosterone levels and modulating the expression of circadian clock genesWenji Ren0Zixu Wang1Yulan Dong2Jing Cao3Ting Gao4Qingyun Guo5Yaoxing Chen6National Key Laboratory of Veterinary Public Health Security, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Haidian, Beijing 100193, ChinaNational Key Laboratory of Veterinary Public Health Security, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Haidian, Beijing 100193, ChinaNational Key Laboratory of Veterinary Public Health Security, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Haidian, Beijing 100193, ChinaNational Key Laboratory of Veterinary Public Health Security, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Haidian, Beijing 100193, ChinaNational Key Laboratory of Veterinary Public Health Security, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Haidian, Beijing 100193, ChinaBeijing Milu Ecological Research Center, Daxing, Beijing 100076, ChinaNational Key Laboratory of Veterinary Public Health Security, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Haidian, Beijing 100193, China; Corresponding author.Obesity is a contributing factor that increases the likelihood of developing chronic kidney disease. In recent years, studies have found that light pollution worldwide promoted obesity, which was known to be a consequence of circadian rhythm disruption. Nevertheless, the impact of light pollution on kidney disease associated with obesity remains mostly unknown, and potential processes have been minimally investigated. Herein, we fed mice a high-fat diet and gave them dim white (dWL), blue (dBL), green (dGL), and red (dRL) light for 12 weeks. Our results showed that both dWL and dBL tended to be more susceptible to damage to kidney dysfunction caused by a high-fat diet compared to LD, with more pronounced changes in dBL. The analysis of kidney found that dBL activated the TGF-β1/Smad signaling pathway to promote epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in the kidney. Additionally, dBL activated the NF-κB signaling pathway and resulted in elevated protein levels of TLR4, p-IκB, p-P65, and TNF-α. Furthermore, dBL increased BAX protein levels and decreased BCL2 protein levels. At the same time, dBL affected the Keap1/Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway, elevating KEAP1 and decreasing NRF2 and HO-1 protein levels. We were surprised to find that dBL altered the expression of the circadian clock genes, resulting in a decrease in the positively regulated genes Bmal1, Clock, and an increase in the negatively regulated genes Per1, Per2, Per3. Mechanistically, dBL increased plasma CORT levels as well as decreased renal GR α expression, and in vitro experiments showed that the circadian clock genes were altered by the addition of CORT and returned to normal levels after the addition of the GR inhibitor RU486. Consequently, dBL can exacerbate renal injury by elevating plasma CORT levels and altering rhythmic changes by acting on the biological clock via GR.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147651324017123Dim lightKidneyObesityCircadian clockCorticosterone
spellingShingle Wenji Ren
Zixu Wang
Yulan Dong
Jing Cao
Ting Gao
Qingyun Guo
Yaoxing Chen
Dim blue light at night worsens high-fat diet-induced kidney damage via increasing corticosterone levels and modulating the expression of circadian clock genes
Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety
Dim light
Kidney
Obesity
Circadian clock
Corticosterone
title Dim blue light at night worsens high-fat diet-induced kidney damage via increasing corticosterone levels and modulating the expression of circadian clock genes
title_full Dim blue light at night worsens high-fat diet-induced kidney damage via increasing corticosterone levels and modulating the expression of circadian clock genes
title_fullStr Dim blue light at night worsens high-fat diet-induced kidney damage via increasing corticosterone levels and modulating the expression of circadian clock genes
title_full_unstemmed Dim blue light at night worsens high-fat diet-induced kidney damage via increasing corticosterone levels and modulating the expression of circadian clock genes
title_short Dim blue light at night worsens high-fat diet-induced kidney damage via increasing corticosterone levels and modulating the expression of circadian clock genes
title_sort dim blue light at night worsens high fat diet induced kidney damage via increasing corticosterone levels and modulating the expression of circadian clock genes
topic Dim light
Kidney
Obesity
Circadian clock
Corticosterone
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147651324017123
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