{"id":1431,"date":"2021-08-05T18:11:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-05T18:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/navyblue.bcmultistaging.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=1431"},"modified":"2026-06-25T19:36:34","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T19:36:34","slug":"fasting-may-help-ward-bacterial-infections-according-study-mice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bcchr.ca\/vallance-lab\/2021\/08\/05\/fasting-may-help-ward-bacterial-infections-according-study-mice\/","title":{"rendered":"Fasting may help ward off bacterial infections according to study in mice"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fasting before and during exposure to Salmonella enterica<\/em> bacteria protects mice from developing a full-blown infection, in part due to changes in the animals\u2019 gut microbiomes, according to new research published in PLOS Pathogens<\/a><\/em> by Dr. Bruce Vallance<\/a> and colleagues at BC Children\u2019s Hospital and University of British Columbia (UBC).<\/p>\n\n

When people or animals develop an infection, they often lose their appetite. However, it remains controversial whether fasting protects a host from infection, or increases their susceptibility. In the new study, mice were fasted for 48 hours before and during oral infection with the bacteria Salmonella enterica<\/em> serovar Typhimurium, a common cause of foodborne illness in people. Food poisoning can be particularly dangerous for young children because illness can lead to diarrhea and dehydration. Children younger than five are three times more likely to be hospitalized if they get a Salmonella<\/em> infection.<\/p>\n\n

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Dr. Bruce Vallance and PhD student Franziska Graef.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

Fasting decreased the signs of bacterial infection compared to fed mice, including nearly eliminating all intestinal tissue damage and inflammation. When fasted animals were re-fed for a day after their fast, there was a dramatic increase in Salmonella<\/em> numbers and invasion into the intestinal walls, although the associated inflammation was still reduced compared to normal.<\/p>\n\n

The results did not hold true when mice were exposed to Salmonella<\/em> intravenously instead of orally, and analyses of the microbiomes of mice showed significant changes associated with fasting and protection against infection.<\/p>\n\n

Moreover, fasting did not fully protect germ-free mice \u2014 bred to lack a normal microbiome \u2014 from\u00a0Salmonella<\/em>, suggesting that some of the protection was due to fasting\u2019s effect on the microbiome. Experiments using the bacteria\u00a0Campylobacter jejuni<\/em>\u00a0confirmed that the effect of fasting was not limited to\u00a0Salmonella<\/em>, with similar results seen.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cThese results indicate that the gut microbiome helps protect us from gut infections either by directly competing with the invasive bacteria for nutrients or due to the presence or absence of specific gut bacteria,\u201d said Franziska Graef, a PhD student in Dr. Vallance\u2019s team and first author on the study. \u201cWe also show that fasting itself decreases gut inflammation during infection, independent of the gut microbiome.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

The study was made possible by computational analysis provided by the Gut4Health microbiome facility<\/a> at BC Children\u2019s Hospital Research Institute. Gut4Health helps facilitate microbiome studies for the research community in B.C.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cOur research highlights the important role that food plays in regulating interactions between the host, intestinal pathogens and the gut microbiome,\u201d said Dr. Bruce Vallance. \u201cWhen food is limited, the microbiome appears to sequester the nutrients that remain, preventing pathogens from acquiring the energy they need to infect the host. While more research is needed, fasting or otherwise adjusting food intake could be exploited therapeutically to modulate infectious diseases in the future.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fasting before and during exposure to\u00a0Salmonella enterica\u00a0bacteria protects mice from developing a full-blown infection, in part due to changes in the animals\u2019 gut microbiomes, according to new research published in\u00a0PLOS Pathogens\u00a0by Dr.\u00a0Bruce Vallance\u00a0and colleagues at BC Children\u2019s Hospital and University of British Columbia (UBC).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2113,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","fndry_alternate_title":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[15],"class_list":["post-1431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-microbiome"],"modified_by":"Andrea Sakamoto","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bcchr.ca\/vallance-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bcchr.ca\/vallance-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bcchr.ca\/vallance-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bcchr.ca\/vallance-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bcchr.ca\/vallance-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1431"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.bcchr.ca\/vallance-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1431\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2117,"href":"https:\/\/www.bcchr.ca\/vallance-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1431\/revisions\/2117"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bcchr.ca\/vallance-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bcchr.ca\/vallance-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bcchr.ca\/vallance-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bcchr.ca\/vallance-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}