Natural daylight during office hours improves glucose control and whole-body substrate metabolism

Article Article scientifique Article Natural daylight during office hours improves glucose control and whole-body substrate metabolism eng 2025-12-18 2026-01-06 author Harmsen Jan-Frieder Department of Nutrition and Movement Sciences, NUTRIM Institute of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, the Netherlands; Healthy Living Spaces Lab, Institute for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany; Chair of Healthy Living Spaces, Faculty of Architecture, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany. author Habets Ivo Department of Nutrition and Movement Sciences, NUTRIM Institute of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, the Netherlands. author Biancolin Andrew 0000-0003-1419-4881 The Thoracic and Endocrine Surgery Division, Department of Surgery, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland; Department of Cell Physiology and Metabolism, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; iGE3 Center, Geneva, Switzerland; Diabetes Centre, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland. 402571 Département de chirurgie (CHIRU) author Lesniewska Agata The Thoracic and Endocrine Surgery Division, Department of Surgery, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland; Department of Cell Physiology and Metabolism, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; iGE3 Center, Geneva, Switzerland; Diabetes Centre, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland. 403097 author Phillips Nicholas The Thoracic and Endocrine Surgery Division, Department of Surgery, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland; Department of Cell Physiology and Metabolism, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; iGE3 Center, Geneva, Switzerland; Diabetes Centre, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; Service of Endocrinology, Diabetology and Metabolism, Department of Medicine, Geneva University Hospitals (HUG), 1211 Geneva, Switzerland. 403969 author Metz Loïc arnaud 0009-0009-0778-6601 The Thoracic and Endocrine Surgery Division, Department of Surgery, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland; Department of Cell Physiology and Metabolism, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; iGE3 Center, Geneva, Switzerland; Diabetes Centre, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland. 430468 Département de chirurgie (CHIRU) author Sanchez-Avila Juan Molecular Discovery Platform, CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria. author Kotte Marit Department of Nutrition and Movement Sciences, NUTRIM Institute of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, the Netherlands. author Timmermans Merel Department of Nutrition and Movement Sciences, NUTRIM Institute of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, the Netherlands. author Hashim Dzhansel Department of Nutrition and Movement Sciences, NUTRIM Institute of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, the Netherlands. author de Kam Soraya S Department of Nutrition and Movement Sciences, NUTRIM Institute of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, the Netherlands. author Schaart Gert Department of Nutrition and Movement Sciences, NUTRIM Institute of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, the Netherlands. author Jörgensen Johanna A Department of Nutrition and Movement Sciences, NUTRIM Institute of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, the Netherlands. author Gemmink Anne Department of Nutrition and Movement Sciences, NUTRIM Institute of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, the Netherlands. author Moonen-Kornips Esther Department of Nutrition and Movement Sciences, NUTRIM Institute of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, the Netherlands. author Doligkeit Daniel Department of Nutrition and Movement Sciences, NUTRIM Institute of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, the Netherlands; Paracelsus Medical University, Research Program Medical Science, Nuremberg, Germany. author van de Weijer Tineke Department of Nutrition and Movement Sciences, NUTRIM Institute of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, the Netherlands; Department of Radiology & Nuclear Medicine, NUTRIM Institute of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, the Netherlands. author Buitinga Mijke Department of Nutrition and Movement Sciences, NUTRIM Institute of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, the Netherlands; Department of Radiology & Nuclear Medicine, NUTRIM Institute of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, the Netherlands. author Haans Florian Department of Nutrition and Movement Sciences, NUTRIM Institute of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, the Netherlands. author De Lorenzo Rebecca Department of Nutrition and Movement Sciences, NUTRIM Institute of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, the Netherlands; IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, Department of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases (DITID), Milan, Italy. author Pallubinsky Hannah Department of Nutrition and Movement Sciences, NUTRIM Institute of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, the Netherlands; Healthy Living Spaces Lab, Institute for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany. author Gordijn Marijke C M Chronobiology Unit, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands; Chrono@Work, Groningen, the Netherlands. author Collet Tinh-Hai 0000-0002-3243-1222 Diabetes Centre, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; Service of Endocrinology, Diabetology and Metabolism, Department of Medicine, Geneva University Hospitals (HUG), 1211 Geneva, Switzerland. 935563 Département de médecine (DEMED) author Kramer Achim Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Laboratory of Chronobiology, Berlin, Germany. author Schrauwen Patrick Institute for Clinical Diabetology, German Diabetes Center, Leibniz Institute for Diabetes Research at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany; German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD), Partner Düsseldorf, Neuherberg, Germany; Clinical Epidemiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands. Electronic address: patrick.schrauwen@ddz.de. author Dibner Charna 0000-0002-4188-803X The Thoracic and Endocrine Surgery Division, Department of Surgery, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland; Department of Cell Physiology and Metabolism, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; iGE3 Center, Geneva, Switzerland; Diabetes Centre, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland. Electronic address: charna.dibner@unige.ch. 583541 Département de chirurgie (CHIRU) author Hoeks Joris Department of Nutrition and Movement Sciences, NUTRIM Institute of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, the Netherlands. Electronic address: j.hoeks@maastrichtuniversity.nl. 65-81.e10 10.1016/j.cmet.2025.11.006 41418772 1550-4131 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1550413125004905 Because 80%-90% of our time is spent indoors and daylight is the main synchronizer of the central biological clock, the chronic lack of daylight is increasingly considered as a risk factor for metabolic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes. In a randomized crossover design (NCT05263232), 13 individuals with type 2 diabetes were exposed to natural daylight facilitated through windows vs. constant artificial lighting during office hours for 4.5 consecutive days. Continuous glucose monitoring revealed that participants spent more time in the normal glucose range, and whole-body substrate metabolism shifted toward a greater reliance on fat oxidation during daylight. Primary myotubes cultured from skeletal muscle biopsies displayed a phase advance after daylight exposure. Multi-omic analyses revealed daylight-induced differences in serum metabolites, lipids, and monocyte transcripts. Our findings suggest that natural daylight exposure has a positive metabolic impact on individuals with type 2 diabetes and could support the treatment of metabolic diseases. Artificial light Circadian clocks Daylight Glucose control Melatonin Multi-omics Skeletal muscle Type 2 diabetes Dewey 612 Dewey 616 Dewey 617 Dewey 590 Swiss National Science Foundation a- and ß-cellular clocks: a network of functional outputs and their potential therapeutic applications for type 2 diabetes 219187 CH Swiss National Science Foundation The metabolic effects and mechanisms of time restricted feeding in individuals with metabolic syndrome 167826 CH Swiss National Science Foundation Aligning the timing of eating and exercise with circadian rhythms for improved metabolic health 212559 CH 56 Département de médecine 221 134 Département de physiologie cellulaire et métabolisme 21C 57 Département de chirurgie 222 23 Institut de génétique et de génomique 0DH false 1386 Nutrition et chronobiologie 1038 913 Endocrinologie et horloge circadienne 948 Cell metabolism 38 1 68a22bf2-ac35-4087-82c5-1c6bf5592618 Article (Published version) Public Harmsen-Cell_Metab.-2025-Natural_da.pdf 10732643 application/pdf CC BY-4.0 c3ef9c9217cf94e594ac97ea4393dd802cc4757f3f49b4133f5b29e5facf463a openAccess Faculté de médecine / Section de médecine clinique / Département de médecine Faculté de médecine / Section de médecine fondamentale / Département de physiologie cellulaire et métabolisme Faculté de médecine / Section de médecine clinique / Département de chirurgie Centres et instituts / Institut de génétique et de génomique

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Natural daylight during office hours improves glucose control and whole-body substrate metabolism	Cell metabolism			2026	57	31

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