A team of researchers fromImperial College London demonstrated, in recent research, the therapeutic effect of intermittent fasting that by modifying the activity of the gut bacteria of the mice and enhanced their ability to recover from nerve damage. The researchers carefully studied how intermittent fasting stimulated gut bacteria to increase the production of a metabolite known as 3-indolepropionic acid (PAH), which is needed to regenerate nerve fibers called axons.wire-like structures at the ends of nerve cells that emit electrochemical signals to other cells in the body.
The results of the study have been published in the scientific journal Nature.
Intermittent Fasting: Some Research Details
The new dynamic associated with the practice of intermittent fasting has been identified in mice and is hopefully applicable to any future human experimentation as well. The team of researchers stated that the bacterium that produces PAH, Clostridium sporogenesis, occurs naturally in the guts of humans as well as mice, and PAH is also present in human blood.
“There is currently no treatment for people with nerve damage other than surgical reconstruction, which is only effective in a small percentage of cases, prompting us to investigate whether lifestyle changes could help recovery.“Said the study’s author, Professor Simone Di Giovanni of the Imperial Department. Brain Sciences: “Intermittent fasting has previously been linked by other studies to wound repair and the growth of new neurons, but our study is the first to explain exactly how fasting could help heal nerves.”
The team of scientists evaluated nerve regeneration in mice in which the sciatic nerve, the longest nerve running from the spine down the leg, was pinched. Half of the mice were subjected to intermittent fasting (eating as much as they wanted followed by not eating at all every other day), while the other half were free to eat without any restrictions. This diet went on for a period of 10 days or 30 days prior to their operation, and the mice’s recovery was monitored 24 to 72 hours after the nerve was cut.
Length of regrown axons was measured and was approximately 50% longer in mice that had fasted. Professor Di Giovanni stated: “I think the power of intermittent fasting is to open a whole new field in which we have to ask ourselves: is this the tip of the iceberg? Will there be other bacteria or bacterial metabolites that can promote repair? ”.
The team also carefully observed how intermittent fasting led to this nerve regeneration. The researchers revealed that there were significantly higher levels of specific metabolites, including IPA, in the blood of the dieting mice.. To confirm whether IPA led to nerve repair, the mice were treated with antibiotics to clean their bowels of any bacteria. Genetically modified strains of Clostridium sporogenesis that may or may not produce PAHs were then administered.
“When IPA cannot be produced by these bacteria and was almost absent in the serum, regeneration was impaired. This suggests that the IPA generated by these bacteria has the ability to heal and regenerate damaged nerves“, Explained Professor Di Giovanni. Importantly, when IPA was given to mice orally after a sciatic nerve injury, regeneration and increased recovery was observed between two and three weeks after the injury.
The next step in this research will be to test this mechanism for spinal cord injury in mice and see if administering IPA more frequently would maximize its effectiveness: “One of our goals now is to systematically study the role of therapy with bacterial metabolites ”. added Professor Di Giovanni.
Further studies will need to investigate whether IPA increases after human intermittent fasting and the effectiveness of IPA and intermittent fasting as a potential treatment in people: “One of the questions we haven’t fully explored is that since IPA lasts four to six hours in highly concentrated blood, giving it repeatedly throughout the day or adding it to a normal diet would help maximize its therapeutic effects? “ The expert concluded.
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