Repeated Sense of Hunger Leads to the Development of Visceral Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome in a Mouse Model

Obesity-related disorders, especially metabolic syndrome, contribute to 2.8 million deaths each year worldwide, with significantly increasing morbidity. Eating at regular times and proper food quantity are crucial for maintaining a healthy status. However, many people in developed countries do not follow a regular eating schedule due to a busy lifestyle. Herein, we show that a repeated sense of hunger leads to a high risk of developing visceral obesity and metabolic syndrome in a mouse model (both 3-week and 6-week-old age, 10 mice in each group). The ad libitum (AL) group (normal eating pattern) and the food restriction (FR) group (alternate-day partially food restriction by given only 1/3 of average amount) were compared after 8-week experimental period. The total food consumption in the FR group was lower than in the AL group, however, the FR group showed a metabolic syndrome-like condition with significant fat accumulation in adipose tissues. Consequently, the repeated sense of hunger induced the typical characteristics of metabolic syndrome in an animal model; a distinct visceral obesity, hyperlipidemia, hyperglycemia and hepatic steatosis. Furthermore, we found that specifically leptin, a major metabolic hormone, played a major role in the development of these pathological disorders. Our study indicated the importance of regular eating habits besides controlling calorie intake.