Important step towards fasting-based therapies

Date:
February 8, 2022
Source:
Helmholtz Zentrum Mu"nchen - German Research Center for
Environmental Health
Summary:
Voluntary fasting, for example interval fasting, is beneficial to
health for many people, depending on their individual condition. For
example, controlled periods of starvation can prevent and improve
diseases such as diabetes and obesity. Researchers have now found
that the immune system plays an important role in ensuring the
positive effects of fasting on our bodies. The new findings will
help develop more effective therapies based on fasting.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Previous studies have shown how fasting can influence the immune system
to improve different chronic inflammatory conditions, but little is known
about how immune responses might determine a healthy metabolism. Since the liver is a central hub and regulator of metabolism, a group of researchers focused on understanding how liver cells and immune cells found in the
liver communicate with each other in conditions of fasting. The study
was a joint effort of Helmholtz Munich, Ulm University, the Technical University of Munich (TUM), the German Center for Diabetes Research
(DZD), the Heidelberg University Hospital, and the University of Southern Denmark.


========================================================================== Immune activity is necessary for metabolic response to fasting The
researchers scanned the DNA of liver cells and immune cells, examining
which parts of their DNA were active and which messenger-molecules were
being released as a result. Their findings showed that these cells were communicating with one-another and highlighted the role of a molecule
that is expressed in almost all the cells in our bodies, namely the glucocorticoid receptor. "We discovered that in the immune cells, this
receptor in particular allowed the crosstalk between the cell types
during fasting. By deleting the receptor only in the immune cells,
we saw a breakdown of fasting signals in the liver cells.

This means that the immune cells are able to directly influence the effect
of fasting on our metabolism," says Anne Loft from Helmholtz Munich.

Giorgio Caratti and Jan Tuckermann from the Ulm University add: "In
fact, this is the first time we have seen this process under 'healthy' conditions. We knew that immune responses could influence our metabolism
in an unhealthy setting, but this was new. It proves that a low level of
immune activity, or inflammation, is necessary for a balanced metabolic response to fasting." "Voluntary fasting has been shown to be beneficial
for the prevention of a number of human metabolic diseases, including
type 2 diabetes and obesity. The increase in people suffering from not
only these metabolic diseases is staggering, showing no signs of slowing
down. Our findings serve to understand the molecular mechanisms behind
these diseases and may ultimately lead to the development of effective fasting-based therapies," says Stephan Herzig who led study at Helmholtz Munich.

Prof. Stephan Herzig is Director of the Helmholtz Diabetes Center at
Helmholtz Munich. He holds the Chair for Molecular Metabolic Control
at TUM and an Honorary Chair at Heidelberg University. Dr. Anne Loft
is first author of the study at Helmholtz Munich. Both are part of the
German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD). Dr. Giorgio Caratti from
the Ulm University, Institute of Comparative Molecular Endocrinology is co-author of the study and works at Prof. Jan Tuckermann's lab who led
the study together with Stephan Herzig.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Helmholtz_Zentrum_Mu"nchen_-_German_Research_Center_for
Environmental_Health. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Anne Loft, So/ren Fisker Schmidt, Giorgio Caratti, Ulrich Stifel,
Jesper
Havelund, Revathi Sekar, Yun Kwon, Alba Sulaj, Kan Kau Chow, Ana
Jimena Alfaro, Thomas Schwarzmayr, Nikolaj Rittig, Mads Svart,
Foivos-Filippos Tsokanos, Adriano Maida, Andreas Blutke, Annette
Feuchtinger, Niels Mo/ ller, Matthias Blu"her, Peter Nawroth,
Julia Szendro"di, Nils J.

Faergeman, Anja Zeigerer, Jan Tuckermann, Stephan Herzig. A
macrophage- hepatocyte glucocorticoid receptor axis coordinates
fasting ketogenesis.

Cell Metabolism, 2022; DOI: 10.1016/j.cmet.2022.01.004 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220208105216.htm
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