Time-Restricted Feeding in Commercial Layer Chickens Improves Egg Quality in Old Age and Points to Lack of Adipostat Activity in Chickens.

Sara Yosefi,Shelly Druyan,Mark Ruzal,Ganesan Saibaba,Dima Shinder,Hagit Arazi,Dror Sagi,Oren Froy,Miriam Friedman-Einat

doi:10.3389/fphys.2021.651738

Abstract

In mammals, time-restricted feeding (TRF) with no caloric restriction provides health benefits and extends longevity, usually with a minor (∼3%) or no reduction in total food consumption. In the current study, a TRF regimen of 6 h free access to food (08:00–14:00 h) was applied to Leghorn chickens from 25 to 86 weeks of age; control birds ate freely during the light hours (06:00–20:00 h). Unexpectedly, the TRF-treated birds consumed, on average, 11.7% less food than the controls. This was manifested by an average reduction of 9.6% in body weight, 2.6-fold in visceral fat accumulation, and 6.5% in egg weight. Hen-housed egg production was reduced by 3.6% in the TRF group compared with the control, along the first 40 weeks of the follow-up (P < 0.05), and changed into a tendency of 0.7% higher egg production thereafter. Several parameters of egg quality showed significant improvement (P < 0.05) in the TRF group compared with the controls. A comparison of diurnal patterns of feed consumption revealed a higher rate of hourly consumption in the TRF group and increased consumption before dark in the control group. In conclusion, the reduced feed intake in response to the TRF treatment and loss in visceral fat accumulation supports the lack of a strong adipostat activity in chickens and different appetite regulation mechanisms compared with mammals. Therefore, future TRF studies in chickens should be adjusted by extending the ad libitum time window. The lower feed intake by the TRF-treated chickens compared with the ad libitum-fed controls seems to reduce the efficiency of egg production. Nevertheless, the improved egg quality and persistence of egg lay at the older age suggest that similarly to mammals, the TRF treatment delayed at least some of the negative impacts associated with advanced age.

Highlights

Time-restricted feeding (TRF), defined as food consumed for ≤10 h per day, extends the time spent fasting and improves markers of metabolic health in both animal models (Froy and Miskin, 2010; Hatori et al, 2012) and humans (Sutton et al, 2018; Jones et al, 2020)
The body weight (BW) of the TRF chickens showed an average of 9.6% weight loss compared with the ad libitum-fed group but with no deeper weight loss in the first 2 months (Figure 1B), despite the lower feed intake
Egg lay calculated per actual bird showed that persistent laying was reduced by the treatment but was the least affected compared with BW and egg weight (Table 3 and Figure 1D)

Summary

Introduction

Time-restricted feeding (TRF), defined as food consumed for ≤10 h per day, extends the time spent fasting and improves markers of metabolic health in both animal models (Froy and Miskin, 2010; Hatori et al, 2012) and humans (Sutton et al, 2018; Jones et al, 2020). The improved health, metabolism, reproductive efficiency, brain signaling, and longevity were reported by many studies, with caloric intake similar to the ad libitum control group (Froy and Miskin, 2010; Hatori et al, 2012; Manoogian and Panda, 2017; Balasubramanian et al, 2020; Currenti et al, 2020; Hua et al, 2020). The effects of TRF are tightly correlated with attenuation of the age-related decline in the phase and amplitude of circadian genes ( called clock genes) (Froy, 2011). Evidence indicates complex interactive regulation between the control mechanisms implicated in the TRF response and circadian rhythms

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Conclusion