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(PTFS07-04-26) Time-Restricted Feeding Reduces a High-Fat Diet-Induced Plasma Metabolome Shift and Early Oncogenic Responses in the Colon of C57BL/6 Mice

Sunday, July 26, 2026
11:12 AM - 11:16 AM ET
Location: Prince George's Hall B-E (The Hub) - Poster Theater 1 / Poster Board Number: PT1-4

    Presenting Author(s)

  • HZ

    Huawei Zeng, PhD

    Research Molecular Biologist
    USDA-ARS Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center
    Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States

    Disclosure(s): No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.

    • Co-Author(s)

  • BS

    Bryan D. Safratowich, M. Sc.

    USDA-ARS Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center
    Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States

  • WC

    Wen-Hsing Cheng

    Texas Woman's University, United States

  • MB

    Michael R. Bukowski, Ph.D.

    Chemist
    USDA-ARS Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center
    Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States

Disclosure(s):
Huawei Zeng, PhD: No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.
Objectives: An obesogenic diet increases the risk of obesity and colon cancer. In contrast, time-restricted eating or feeding (TRE or TRF) has been recognized as an effective dietary strategy to reduce obesity-related diseases. Despite a rapid rise in colon cancer cases among young individuals, the mechanistic impact of TRE on colon cancer prevention in young populations remains to be determined. We hypothesize that TRF reduces obesity-driven shifts in plasma metabolome and oncogenic responses in the colon of a young adult mouse model fed with an obesogenic diet.

Methods: Six-week-old male C57BL/6 mice were assigned to 3 dietary groups (n= 22/group) for 14 weeks: (1) AIN93G control diet (AIN); (2) a high fat diet (HFD, 45% energy fat); (3) a HFD with TRF, 12 hours during the dark phase (HFD+TRF). Using metabolomics, microbiome, bioinformatics, mass spectrometry and immunohistochemistry approaches, we examined the impact of TRF on plasma metabolome and oncogenic responses.

Results: Compared to the AIN group, the HFD and HFD+TRF groups exhibited increased body mass (47% and 19%, respectively) and fat percentage (184% and 117%, respectively) at wk14, respectively. There was a global metabolome separation between the AIN and HFD groups, but not the HFD+TRF group. Moreover, proinflammatory plasma cytokines (e.g., IL-6 and MCP-1), oncogenic signatures (e.g., deoxycholic acid (DCA) and Ki67), and opportunistic pathogens (e.g., alistipes) increased by > 47% in the HFD group, but not in the HFD+TRF group, compared to the AIN group.

Conclusions: Collectively, our results demonstrate that TRF reduces the effects of HFD-induced obesity on global plasma metabolome and oncogenic responses including the elevation of alistipes, DCA, beta-catenin and Ki67 protein expression in the colon of C57BL/6 mice.

Funding Sources: This work was supported by U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service.