Metabolism

Professor Satchin Panda and team, in collaboration with UC San Diego and the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, conducted a clinical trial and found that time-restricted eating improved measures of health and wellbeing in firefighters. Eating during a 10-hour window decreased firefighters’ “bad” cholesterol and alcohol intake, as well as improved their mental health, blood sugar, and blood pressure. The researchers also discovered that time-restricted eating may provide even greater benefits for those at risk for cardiometabolic disease and other chronic diseases.

Numerous studies have shown health benefits from time-restricted eating, making practices like intermittent fasting a hot topic in the wellness industry. Now, Professor Satchin Panda and team show how time-restricted eating influences gene expression across more than 22 regions of the body and brain in mice. The team found a system-wide, molecular impact of time-restricted eating in mice, and noted that the time-restricted eating aligned the circadian rhythms of multiple organs in the body. The findings have implications for a wide range of health conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.

Approximately half of people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes experience peripheral neuropathy—weakness, numbness, and pain, primarily in the hands and feet. Now, working in mice, Professor Christian Metallo, Postdoctoral Fellow Michal Handzlik, and colleagues have identified another factor contributing to diabetes-associated peripheral neuropathy: altered amino acid metabolism. The researchers were able to alleviate neuropathy symptoms in diabetic mice by supplementing their diets with the amino acid serine. The findings may provide a new way to identify people at high risk for peripheral neuropathy, as well as a potential treatment option.