Project description:In 2018, colorectal cancer is the third most common malignant tumor in terms of morbidity and second mortality in the world. Surgical resection is still the main treatment for colorectal cancer.With the introduction of the ERAS, the latest international and domestic guidelines for fasting before surgery all advocate shortening the fasting time. For example, 2 hours before surgery, oral take cleared fluids, including water, sugar water, fruit juice, tea and black coffee (without milk) is allowed.Solid food can be consumed 4 hours before surgery, and oral diet should be resumed as soon as possible after surgery. Changes in diet, nutritional status, and physical activity are closely related to the incidence of colorectal cancer. Therefore, we believe that the intestine may be very sensitive to different fasting times during the perioperative period. Prolonging the fasting time may improve the prognosis by improving postoperative insulin resistance, reducing inflammation and protecting anti-tumor immune function in patients with colorectal cancer.Prolonged fasting time seems to be contrary to the results of some studies, and whether it is applicable to patients with tumor surgery is unclear. Therefore, there is an urgent need to conduct large-scale, prospective, randomized controlled clinical studies to clarify the most suitable perioperative fasting strategy (including composition, interval, and amount) for cancer patients, which can not only reduce surgical stress and speed up postoperative rehabilitation,reduce postoperative metastasis and recurrence and improve mid- and long-term prognosis.
Project description:How our body adapts erythropoiesis to fluctuating nutrient availability is an unanswered question in hematopoietic development. Here, we demonstrate that short-term fasting triggers a sustained increase in red blood cell (RBC) production by remodeling the developmental trajectory of bone marrow megakaryocyte-erythroid progenitors (MEPs).
Project description:This study will evaluate the ability of short-term fasting to reduce chemotherapy toxicity and enhance anti-tumour response in patients with colorectal carcinoma subjected to chemotherapy.
Project description:Analysis of fasting-induced change of metabolites in mice confirmed that glucose level was reduced in the liver, but unaffected in the brain of fasted mice. To explore molecular mechanisms for the preferential glucose supply to the brain upon fasting, we compared gene expression profiles of the brain between fasted and fed mice. Gene ontology (GO) term analysis revealed the enrichment of one GO term, “active membrane transporters activity”. We also showed that fasting enhances the expression of a glucose transporter Slc2a1 (Glut1) gene.
Project description:Background and study aims
We would like to find out whether it is possible for people to follow a short-term fast before their chemotherapy. Fasting involves avoiding all food for a set amount of time. Some research suggests that fasting might help to protect our cells during chemotherapy, by switching them from a state of growth and development to a state of maintenance and repair. However, we don’t know if fasting is of benefit. Ultimately, we would like to find out whether fasting before chemotherapy can help to reduce its side effects. In order to answer this question, we first need to find out whether it is possible for people to fast before their chemotherapy. This has been tested in some previous studies but not in people receiving chemotherapy for colorectal cancer. So, we are inviting 30 people to take part in a trial that will compare a 36-hour fast to usual diet before chemotherapy.
Who can participate?
Adults with stage 2 or 3 colorectal cancer who are due to receive capecitabine oxaliplatin (CAPOX) chemotherapy.
What does the study involve?
Participants will be randomly allocated to either the intervention group or the control group.
The intervention group will spend 36 hours prior to their chemotherapy fasting and drinking water-only. Each chemotherapy cycle will be 21 days long and participants in this group will fast before each of their first 3 cycles of chemotherapy.
The control group will receive the usual advice prior to their first cycle of chemotherapy, including written or verbal information on their diet and the effects of chemotherapy on appetite.
Project description:Oscillations between lipid anabolism and catabolism allow for long-term preservation of cellular health amid systemic metabolic fluctuations. As a conserved aging determinant, fasting can improve disease outcomes and extend lifespan. Yet, the relative importance of activating lipid catabolism versus its attenuation in fasting-induced longevity remains unclear. The robust adaptability of the soil-dwelling worms, C. elegans, to variable nutrient availability provides an excellent means to better understand how metabolic transitions alter aging trajectories. Here, we show that, rather than activation, the silencing of lipid catabolism upon nutrient replenishment is essential for lifespan extension through fasting. The fasting-responsive nuclear hormone receptor, NHR-49, is pivotal in activating lipid catabolism through β-oxidation. Unlike traditional ligand-regulated nuclear hormone receptors, NHR-49 employs a unique regulatory mechanism that bypasses ligand binding, instead relying on cofactors to mediate its transcriptional attenuation and turnover during times of nutrient stress. Here, we identify casein kinase 1 alpha 1 (KIN-19) as a central regulator of metabolic plasticity and fasting-induced longevity, which attenuates β-oxidation via primed phosphorylation of NHR-49. Overall, cooperative, ligand-independent silencing of this conserved nuclear hormone receptor promotes longevity associated with fasting.
Project description:Constant availability of food can contribute to the pathogenesis of metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. Short term intermittent fasting (IF) can reset the central, light-entrained (suprachiastmatic nucleus) clock and also the peripheral, food-entrained (liver) clock to restore metabolic homeostasis in T2D. We asked if long term IF could prevent development of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in a type 2 diabetes model, the db/db mouse. After 7 months, IF corrected diabetes-induced increases in triglycerides, cholesteryl esters and diglycerides. IF protocol in db/db mice also prevented development of DR. In addition, host frequency and time of food intake affected the gut microbiome composition. IF led to decreased levels of Clostridiales and Akkermansia muciniphila in db/db mice and these changes in flora were accompanied by increased gut mucin, goblet cell number and villus length. Increased levels of Firmicutes in db/db mice on IF supported improved bile acid metabolism. To confirm that the restoration of bile acid function could contribute to the beneficial effects induced by IF on DR, the dual FXR/TGR-5 agonist INT-767 was administered to a second diabetes model, DBA2J mice injected with streptozotocin (STZ) and placed on Western diet (WD). In this model, INT-767 prevented development of DR. These findings support the concept that long-term IF mediates multiple beneficial effect by restoring the gut-liver axis homeostasis.