High fat diet but not glucocorticoid-induced obesity results in fatty liver

Abstract

Chronic stress, modeled by flattened circadian glucocorticoid (GC) oscillations, is increasingly implicated in obesity. We investigated the underlying mechanisms by disrupting GC rhythms in mice, elevating normally low GC levels during the rest period. This disruption induced substantial obesity, comparable to a 60% high-fat diet (HFD), with additive effects on fat mass, suggesting distinct mechanisms driving adiposity. Despite similar adiposity, GC-flattening and HFD produced profoundly different metabolic outcomes. HFD led to hepatic steatosis and elevated fasting glucose/fatty acid levels, reflecting typical diet-induced dysfunction. In contrast, GC-flattening maintained low fasting glucose/fatty acid levels and prevented hepatic lipid accumulation, with increased adiposity driven by a shift of glucose uptake from muscle to fat and suppression of lipolysis. This reveals a previously unrecognized mechanism of obesity development where excess fat accumulation occurs independently of the mechanisms driving metabolic dysfunction observed in diet-induced obesity. The dissociation between obesity and metabolic dysfunction in GC-flattening challenges the view that increased adiposity and persistent hyperinsulinemia inevitably leads to fatty liver disease. Understanding this pathway opens avenues for novel therapeutic interventions targeting stress-related metabolic disorders.