No Food Intake for 24 Hours Eliminates Heart Muscle Damage Increasing Survival of Chemotherapy Patients

A research team from Massachusetts General Hospital recently developed a nanoparticle probed that can detect an indicator of heart impairment from chemotherapy.

Even though chemotherapy can be a lifesaving treatment for cancer patients, some of these medications can impair the heart, a Phys.org report specified.

Experiments with the probe also revealed that in mice with cancer, intermittent fasting before chemotherapy treatment could stop this heart impairment indicator from occurring, resulting in preserved cardiac function, not to mention prolonged survival.

This research focused on autophagy, a process used by cells to eliminate unnecessary or dysfunctional components.

Nanoparticles That Can Detect Autophagy

As specified in the study published in the Nature Biomedical Engineering journal, a delicate balance exists between the protective and deleterious impacts of such process-reduced autophagy levels that have been implicated in cardiovascular disease and other conditions. Nonetheless, autophagy can be a primary mechanism as well of cell death.

David Sosnovic, MD, director of the Program in Cardiovascular Imaging at MGH's Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, and his colleagues developed a nanoparticle that can detect autophagy, enabling investigators to gauge the activity of autophagy non-invasively within the body, either through fluorescent of magnetic resonance imaging.

With the researchers intravenously injected nanoparticles into mice with cancer, they could gauge changes in autophagy in heart tissue under different circumstances like post-chemotherapy treatment.

For instance, the nanoparticles detected lessened the autophagy activity in heart cells exposed to the chemotherapy drug doxorubicin, which can lead to heart damage.

Nonetheless, treatments that have statins or fasting before doxorubicin treatment allowed the heart cells of animals to retain the normal activity of autophagy.

Impacts of Intermittent Fasting on Autophagy

Sosnovik, the senior author of the study, explained that they show with their nanoparticle that intermittent fasting, which means drinking water without food for 24 hours before chemotherapy treatment, restores autophagy, removes damage to the heart muscle, and even enhances overall survival.

Sosnovik emphasized that complementary study in humans is needed, specifically since the impacts of fasting on autophagy in a tumor are not clear.

He added they are not suggesting that patients today are fasting before their chemotherapy session. This will need to be examined further in controlled and vigorous clinical settings.

Nevertheless, the paper offers essential insights that may impact clinical care in the near future. More so, the autophagy-detecting nanoparticles of the team could be used to attain better insight into the role of autophagy in a wide range of illnesses.

Intermittent Fasting Protects the Heart from Inflammation

According to the American Heart Association, IF "could increase a key protein that controls inflammation," not to mention shielding the heart.

Essentially, IF limits the consumption of food and beverages of a person to certain times of the day or week for effective weight loss.

Scientists analyzed data from a clinical test that had participants undergo fasting two times each week, drinking only water, for the first four weeks and then once each week following that.

Analysis of the said trial demonstrated at the virtual Scientific Sessions conference of the American Heart Association held this month delved into how intermittent fasting appeared to enhance such cardiovascular disease risk factors.

Related information about fasting that's making cancer treatments more effective is shown on FoundMyFitness Clips' YouTube video below:

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