“The vicious cycle of unhealthy diet, obesity, liver inflammation and liver cancer is associated with major restrictions and suffering for those affected and also represents a considerable burden on health care systems,” says Matthias Heikenwalder from the DKFZ and the University of Tübingen. “So we investigated whether simple dietary changes could specifically interrupt this lethal process.”
Several studies have already shown that intermittent fasting is an effective means of losing weight and reducing some metabolic disorders. Heikenwalder's team has now tested in mice whether this approach can also protect the liver from fatty degeneration and chronic inflammation.
The animals were fed a high-sugar and high-fat diet consistent with a typical Western diet. One group of rats had constant access to food. As expected, these animals increased weight and body fat and developed chronic liver inflammation.
The rats in the second group were given nothing to eat two days a week (5:2 intermittent fasting, or 5:2 IF for short), but were allowed to eat as much as they wanted on the other days. Despite the high-calorie diet, these animals did not gain weight, showed fewer signs of liver disease and had lower levels of biomarkers that indicate liver damage. In short, they were resistant to the development of MASH.