Intermittent fasting modulation of the diabetic syndrome in sand rats. II. In vivo investigations

Abstract

Abstract. This study deals with the effects of daily intermittent fasting for 15 h upon the development of diabetes in sand rats exposed to a hypercaloric diet. The same pattern of daily intermittent fasting was imposed on sand rats maintained on a purely vegetal diet (control animals). Over the last 30 days of the present experiments, non-fasting animals gained weight, whilst intermittently fasting sand rats lost weight. In this respect, there was no significant difference between control animals and either diabetic or non-diabetic sand rats exposed to the hypercaloric diet. The postprandial glycemia remained fairly stable in the control animals. During a 3-week transition period from a purely vegetal to a hypercaloric diet, the postprandial glycemia increased by 5.95±1.26 mM (n=6) in diabetic sand rats, as distinct from an increase of only 0.45±0.56 mM (n=6) in the non-diabetic animals. During the intermittent fasting period, the postprandial glycemia decreased significantly in the diabetic animals, but not so in the non-diabetic sand rats. Before the switch in food intake, the peak glycemia at the 30th min of an intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test was already higher in the diabetic than non-diabetic rats. In both the non-diabetic and diabetic sand rats, intermittent fasting prevented the progressive deterioration of glucose tolerance otherwise observed in non-fasting animals. These findings reveal that, at least in sand rats, intermittent daily fasting prevents the progressive deterioration of glucose tolerance otherwise taking place when these animals are exposed to a hypercaloric diet.

Islamic Fasting Models but not Only Ramadan Improved Metabolic Parameter in High-Fat-High-Fructose-Induced Rats

“…The glucose [23] in HFD-induced mice and given intermittent fasting treatment resulted in higher insulin levels in mice that were fasted for 12 and 18 h compared to 6 h. However, glucose and β-hydroxybutyric concentrations were higher at 18 h than at 12 h fasting, indicating a decrease in insulin sensitivity and ketogenic state due to extending the fasting duration to 18 h [23]. In line with other studies, intermittent fasting treatment daily for 15 h (17.00-08.00) in 30 days to normal and diabetics sand rats which fed a hypercaloric diet had improved glucose tolerance [26].…”

A Smartphone Intervention to Promote Time Restricted Eating Reduces Body Weight and Blood Pressure in Adults with Overweight and Obesity: A Pilot Study

“…Prolonged daily eating intervals in late hours, usually reserved for sleep, results in overeating and is associated with obesity [ 17 , 18 , 19 ]. Studies in rodents [ 20 ] and in humans [ 10 , 14 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 ] have shown that restricting the daily eating window leads to reduced adiposity, systemic inflammation and oxidative stress, improved insulin sensitivity, and longer sleep duration. The temporal aspect of food intake presents as an important modifiable behavior that may decrease predisposition to chronic diseases [ 25 , 26 , 27 ].…”

Intermittent Fasting before Laparotomy: Effects on Glucose Control and Histopathologic Findings in Diabetic Rats

“…All statistical analyses were performed by a data scientist in the R software with the RStudio (Version 4.1.0 (22 June 2020), RStudio, Inc. Boston, MA, USA). The sample size was calculated using data from a previous study that was independent of the research reported herein [20].…”