Fasting Improves Inflammatory Diseases without Compromising Antimicrobial Immunity

Short-term and intermittent fasting reduces chronic inflammation and improves chronic inflammatory diseases without affecting the immune system’s response to acute infections, according to a new study led by Mount Sinai researchers.



Jordan et al identified a drastic effect of short-term and intermittent fasting on the blood and tissue monocyte pool and revealed the role of dietary intake in the control of metabolic and inflammatory activity of monocytes and their egress to the blood circulation. Image credit: Jordan et al, doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2019.07.050.

While acute inflammation is a normal immune process that helps fight off infections, chronic inflammation can have serious consequences for health, including heart disease, diabetes, cancer, multiple sclerosis, and inflammatory bowel diseases.

“Considering the broad spectrum of diseases that are caused by chronic inflammation and the increasing number of patients affected by these diseases, there is an enormous potential in investigating the anti-inflammatory effects of fasting,” said study first author Dr. Stefan Jordan, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Oncological Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

“Caloric restriction is known to improve inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, but the mechanisms by which reduced caloric intake controls inflammation have been poorly understood,” added study senior author Dr. Miriam Merad, Director of the Precision Immunology Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Working with human and mouse immune cells, Dr. Jordan, Dr. Merad and their colleagues showed that intermittent fasting reduced the release of pro-inflammatory cells called monocytes in blood circulation.

Further investigations revealed that during periods of fasting, these cells go into sleep mode and are less inflammatory than monocytes found in those who were fed.

“Monocytes are highly inflammatory immune cells that can cause serious tissue damage, and the population has seen an increasing amount in their blood circulation as a result of eating habits that humans have acquired in recent centuries,” Dr. Merad said.

“We plan to continue trying to decipher the molecular mechanisms by which fasting improves inflammatory diseases, which could lead to novel preventive therapeutic strategies for the treatment of many human diseases,” the study authors said.

The findings were published today in the journal Cell.

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