Regeneration without hunger strike
A research team from Imperial College London has shown that interval fasting activates intestinal bacteria to produce 3-indolepropionic acid (IPA), which is necessary for the regeneration of axons — long processes of nerve cells that transmit electrochemical signals to other cells of the body. This new mechanism has been discovered in mice and may exist in humans: the bacterium Clostridium sporogenesis, which produces IPA, occurs naturally in the intestines of humans, and IPA is also present in the human bloodstream.
Currently, there is no effective treatment for nerve damage, except for surgical reconstruction, which helps only in a small percentage of cases. This prompted researchers to look for lifestyle-related factors that can help recovery.
Other studies have previously linked interval fasting to wound healing and the growth of new neurons, but this study is the first to explain the mechanism of this effect.
Fasting as a potential treatment
The study evaluated nerve regeneration in mice in which the sciatic nerve, a large nerve running from the spine down the leg, was damaged. Half of the mice were subjected to interval fasting (on certain days they ate as much as they wanted, and on others they did not eat at all), while the other half could freely eat without any restrictions. The diet lasted 10 or 30 days before surgery, and the recovery of mice was assessed 24-72 hours after the nerve was cut. The length of the overgrown axons was about 50% longer in mice on interval fasting.
It is not necessary to starve
The researchers also studied how fasting led to axon regeneration. They found that the blood of mice fed at intervals had significantly higher levels of specific metabolites, including IPA.
To test whether IPA leads to nerve repair, mice were given antibiotics to clear the intestines of all bacteria, and then injected with genetically modified strains of Clostridium sporogenesis, which may or may not produce IPA. If the IPA was not produced by these bacteria and was absent in the serum, regeneration was disrupted.
This proves that IPA synthesized by Clostridium sporogenesis bacteria has the ability to regenerate damaged nerves.
When mice were administered IPA orally after sciatic nerve injury, accelerated regeneration was observed within 2-3 weeks after injury.
The next stage of this study will be to test the effectiveness of IPA in spinal cord injuries in mice. Research will also be needed to find out whether this mechanism works in humans and whether IPA is effective for treating patients with nerve damage.
Article by E.Serger et al. The gut metabolite indole-3 propionate promotes nerve regeneration and repair is published in the journal Nature.
Aminat Adzhieva, portal "Eternal Youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of Imperial College London: Intermittent fasting may help heal nerve damage.