The Immun Status Changes Due to Intermittent Fasting

The Effect of Intermittent Fasting on Immune System

Positive effects of calorie restriction on quality of life and diseases are reported. Intermittent fasting, one of the calorie restriction methods, has been shown to be beneficial for health with many metabolic effects, not just calorie restriction. Preclinical studies show the disease-modifying effects of intermittent fasting in animal models on a wide variety of chronic disorders, including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancers, and neurodegenerative brain diseases. There are very few studies evaluating the effects of intermittent fasting on the immune system, and only TNFα, IL6 and IL10 cytokines were evaluated in these studies to evaluate the immune system. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the conditions of inflammatory markers in peripheral blood before and after intermittent fasting period in overweight volunteers with a Body Mass Index between 25 and 30. Volunteers will have intermittent fasting for 3 weeks, which conforms to the 16-hour fasting and 8-hour meal format.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Intermittent Fasting
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Intermittent fasting

Detailed Description

In a 1997 article by Weindruch and Sohal, they reported that reducing food availability (calorie restriction) throughout life has significant effects on aging and lifespan in animals. There are many modalities for calorie restriction, one of which is intermittent fasting. Intermittent fasting involves having little or no energy intake during a certain period of the day, then free intake of energy for the rest of the day. Some of the modalities applied in this context can be listed as 12 hours fasting-12 hours eating, 16 hours fasting-8 hours eating, 20 hours fasting-4 hours eating. Studies in animals and humans show that most of the health benefits of intermittent fasting are not just the result of decreased free radical production or weight loss. Instead, intermittent fasting elicits cellular responses that can adapt to improve glucose regulation between and within organs, increase stress resistance, and suppress inflammation. During intermittent fasting, cells activate pathways that increase their defenses against oxidative and metabolic stress and remove or repair damaged molecules.Preclinical studies show the disease-modifying effects of intermittent fasting in animal models on a wide variety of chronic disorders, including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancers, and neurodegenerative brain diseases . Periodic opening and closing of metabolism with intermittent fasting not only provides the ketones necessary for cells to use during the fasting period, but also elicits highly regulated systemic and cellular responses to increase mental and physical performance and disease resistance.

There are very few studies evaluating the effects of intermittent fasting on the immune system, and only TNFα, IL6 and IL10 cytokines were evaluated in these studies to evaluate the immune system. In one of these studies, it was reported that proinflammatory cytokines of TNFα, IL6, which were measured after intermittent fasting for 30 days for 14 hours, decreased significantly.

In this study, the investigators aimed to evaluate the effect of 16-hour fasting and 8-hour intermittent fasting application on overweight volunteers with a Body Mass Index of 25-30 for inflammatory markers in peripheral blood .

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 20
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Turkey
  • Istanbul, Turkey, 34098
    • Istanbul Training and Research Hospital

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 14 years to 76 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: Male

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Bady mass index should be between 25-30
• Male

Exclusion Criteria:

• Diabetes patients,
• Immune deficiency history,
• Cancer patients,
• Individuals who did not agree to participate in the study

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Diagnostic
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Intermittent fasting	Other: Intermittent fasting; 30 overweight male volunteers who will have 3 weeks intermittent fasting which has 16 hours fasting and 8 hours eating in a day period.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Cytokine levels	IL1, IL6, TNFα, IL10 cytokine levels	3 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Demographic values	Weight as kilograms, Height as meters	3 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Istanbul Training and Research Hospital
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Ufuk O Idiz, Assoc.Prof., Istanbul Training and Research Hospital

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Weindruch R, Sohal RS. Seminars in medicine of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Caloric intake and aging. N Engl J Med. 1997 Oct 2;337(14):986-94. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199710023371407. No abstract available.
• Panda S. Circadian physiology of metabolism. Science. 2016 Nov 25;354(6315):1008-1015. doi: 10.1126/science.aah4967.
• Di Francesco A, Di Germanio C, Bernier M, de Cabo R. A time to fast. Science. 2018 Nov 16;362(6416):770-775. doi: 10.1126/science.aau2095.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 13, 2021
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 5, 2021
• Study Completion (Actual): June 15, 2021

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 5, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 5, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): May 7, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): June 2, 2022
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 1, 2022
• Last Verified: June 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Cytokine; Intermittent fasting
• Other Study ID Numbers: Intermittent fasting immune

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: No
• IPD Plan Description: If the study complete, we could share

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No