(Press-News.org) While chemotherapy can save lives, it can also cause many side effects, including the depletion of immune cells. Also, even in the absence of chemotherapy, normal aging takes a heavy toll on the immune system, leading to immune deficiencies and a higher risk of developing leukemia and a variety of malignancies with age. Now researchers reporting in the June 5th issue of the Cell Press journal Cell Stem Cell have found that a simple dietary intervention—periodic fasting—may combat both chemotherapy-induced and aging-related changes in immune cell function by replenishing stem cells in the blood. The findings suggest that fasting may provide benefits for cancer patients, the elderly, and people with various immune defects.
It's estimated that more than one-fifth of cancer-related deaths are hastened, or even caused, by toxic effects of chemotherapy rather than the cancer itself. These toxicities can reduce the overall effectiveness of anticancer treatments by limiting the dosage and frequency of chemotherapeutic interventions that are tolerable to patients. Currently there are no interventions to lessen the side effects that chemotherapy has on the immune system or to prevent the immune cell dysfunction that occurs with aging.
Previous work by Dr. Valter Longo, of the University of Southern California, and his colleagues revealed that temporary nutrient restriction could increase stem cells' resistance to certain stressors. In their latest work, they tested whether fasting could have protective effects for immune cells such as white blood cells. "We show that prolonged fasting periods cause a major reduction in white blood cell number followed by its replenishment after refeeding," said Dr. Longo. "We discovered that this effect, which may have evolved to reduce energy expenditure during periods of starvation, is able to switch stem cells to a mode able to not only regenerate immune cells and reverse the immunosuppression caused by chemotherapy, but also rejuvenate the immune system of old mice." The researchers found that protection against white blood cell loss also occurred in human patients who fasted for a single 72-hour period prior to platinum-based chemotherapy as part of a phase 1 clinical trial.
With additional experiments, the investigators discovered that fasting provides its protective effects by reducing levels of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), a protein with key roles in growth and aging. Therefore, fasting or treatments that target the IGF-1 pathway might provide similar benefits for cancer patients, the elderly, and people with immune defects. "We and others are currently testing the effect of fasting-mimicking diets on the protection of patients against chemotherapy's side effects, and we're also testing the role of multiple cycles of a fasting-mimicking diet on the immune system in generally healthy middle-aged and elderly subjects," said Dr. Longo.
INFORMATION:
Cell Stem Cell, Cheng et al.: "Prolonged Fasting reduces IGF-1/PKA to promote hematopoietic stem cell-based regeneration and reverse immunosuppression."
Fasting may help protect against immune-related effects of chemotherapy and aging
2014-06-05
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Outcomes of a 2-year national rare disease gene discovery project
2014-06-05
OTTAWA, ON – June 5, 2014 – As part of the Finding of Rare Disease Genes (FORGE) research project, Canadian researchers have developed an expertise in understanding the underlying biology of rare childhood disorders. The first public commentary of this nationwide study is available today in the American Journal of Human Genetics.
"When we launched this project, we predicted we might explain, or solve, 50 disorders; we've almost tripled that goal," said Dr. Kym Boycott, lead investigator of FORGE and clinician scientist at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario ...
First 3-D pterosaur eggs found with their parents
2014-06-05
Researchers have discovered the first three-dimensionally preserved pterosaur eggs in China. The eggs were found among dozens, if not hundreds, of pterosaur fossils, representing a new genus and species (Hamipterus tianshanensis). The discovery, described in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on June 5, reveals that the pterosaurs—flying reptiles with wingspans ranging from 25 cm to 12 m—lived together in gregarious colonies.
Xiaolin Wang of the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology says it was most exciting to find ...
McLean Hospital researchers see promise in transplanted fetal stem cells for Parkinson's
2014-06-05
BELMONT, MA -- Researchers at Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital have found that fetal dopamine cells transplanted into the brains of patients with Parkinson's disease were able to remain healthy and functional for up to 14 years, a finding that could lead to new and better therapies for the illness.
The discovery, reported in the June 5, 2014 issue of the journal Cell Reports, could pave the way for researchers to begin transplanting dopamine neurons taken from stem cells grown in laboratories, a way to get treatments to many more patients in an easier fashion.
"We ...
Fasting triggers stem cell regeneration of damaged, old immune system
2014-06-05
In the first evidence of a natural intervention triggering stem cell-based regeneration of an organ or system, a study in the June 5 issue of the Cell Press journal Cell Stem Cell shows that cycles of prolonged fasting not only protect against immune system damage — a major side effect of chemotherapy — but also induce immune system regeneration, shifting stem cells from a dormant state to a state of self-renewal.
In both mice and a Phase 1 human clinical trial, long periods of not eating significantly lowered white blood cell counts. In mice, fasting cycles then "flipped ...
Immune system molecules may promote weight loss, UCSF study finds
2014-06-05
The calorie-burning triggered by cold temperatures can be achieved biochemically – without the chill – raising hopes for a weight-loss strategy focused on the immune system rather than the brain, according to a new study by UC San Francisco researchers.
The team determined that two signaling molecules secreted by cells of the immune system trigger the conversion of fat-storing white fat cells to fat-burning beige fat cells. Ajay Chawla, MD, PhD, an associate professor of medicine at the UCSF Cardiovascular Research Institute, led the study, published online June 5, 2014 ...
Scientists generate long-sought molecular map of critical genetic machinery
2014-06-05
LA JOLLA, CA—June 5, 2014—A team led by researchers at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has used advanced electron microscopy techniques to determine the first accurate structural map of Mediator, one of the largest and most complex "molecular machines" in cells.
Mediator is crucial for the regulation of most genes' activity and works in the cells of all plants and animals. The mapping of its structure—which includes more than two dozen unique protein subunits—represents a significant advance in basic cell biology and should shed light on medical conditions involving ...
Diabetes care depends on how your doctor is paid
2014-06-05
TORONTO, June 5, 2014 – From 2006 to 2008, nearly 75 per cent of Ontarians with diabetes did not receive all of the tests recommended to properly monitor their disease. How their doctor was paid was one of the factors determining the care they received, according to a study by researchers at St. Michael's Hospital and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES).
The study, published today in the Canadian Journal of Diabetes, found that patients who were not actively enrolled with a family doctor were least likely to receive optimum diabetes care. The researchers ...
New method reveals single protein interaction key to embryonic stem cell differentiation
2014-06-05
Proteins are responsible for the vast majority of the cellular functions that shape life, but like guests at a crowded dinner party, they interact transiently and in complex networks, making it difficult to determine which specific interactions are most important.
Now, researchers from the University of Chicago have pioneered a new technique to simplify the study of protein networks and identify the importance of individual protein interactions. By designing synthetic proteins that can only interact with a pre-determined partner, and introducing them into cells, the team ...
Research helps clarify how obesity leads to type 2 diabetes, cancer
2014-06-05
New findings about the biological links between obesity, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes may also shed light on the connection between obesity and cancer, says a scientist at The University of Texas at Dallas.
In a study published online June 5 in the journal Cell, UT Dallas' Dr. Jung-whan (Jay) Kim and colleagues at the University of California, San Diego found that a protein called HIF-1 alpha plays a key role in the development of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes in obese mice.
The researchers genetically engineered mice to lack the HIF-1 alpha protein ...
New research explains how we use the GPS inside our brain to navigate
2014-06-05
The way we navigate from A to B is controlled by two brain regions which track the distance to our destination, according to new research funded by the Wellcome Trust and published in Current Biology.
The study found that at the beginning of a journey, one region of the brain calculates the straight-line to the destination ('the distance as a crow flies'), but during travel a different area of the brain computes the precise distance along the path to get there.
The findings pinpoint the precise brain regions used and in doing so change how scientists believed we use ...