The effects of fasting on ischemic infarcts in the rat

Background Inflammation has been found to be largely detrimental early in the acute phase of stroke but beneficial at more chronic stages. Fasting has been shown to reduce inflammation acutely. We aimed to determine whether post-ischemic fasting improves stroke outcomes through attenuated inflammation. Methods After an endothelin-1 lesion was created in the striatum, animals were subjected to either normal feeding or water-only fasting for 24 hours. Results It was found that at 24 hours, fasting reduced infarct volume and BBB breakdown and lowered both circulating and brain neutrophils. Conclusions These findings suggest that fasting is a potentially beneficial non-pharmacological additive therapeutic option for cerebral ischemia, which might act by reducing inflammation in the acute disease stage. ### Competing Interest Statement Disclosures: AMB is senior medical science advisor and co-founder of Brainomix, a company that develops electronic ASPECTS (e-ASPECTS). The other authors declare no competing conflict of interest. Sources of Funding: AMB is funded by grants from the Leducq Foundation and the Albert Einstein. YC is funded by Alzheimers Research UK.