Author(s): MAYER, S., EGGERS, M., FISCHER, P., DAUGARDT, A., PIATEK, S., BUGAEVA, P., WINKLER, M., WALTER, J., ZOCHOLL, D., KOSCHÜTZKE, L., FODDIS, M., KOCH, S., MUELLER, S., ENDRES, M., DIRNAGL, U., HOFFMANN, C., WENGER, N., HARMS, C., Institution: CHARITÉ UNIVERSITÄTSMEDIZIN BERLIN, Country: GERMANY, Abstract-ID: 2395

INTRODUCTION:
The nutritional components of one’s diet is known to be a crucial to health and optimal athletic performance (1). Unclear, however, is if the timing of nutritional intake impacts performance as well. Intermittent fasting (IF) is a popular diet that reduces risk factors for cardiometabolic disease (2). The effect of IF on athletic performance is debated, and little research exists on its effect on exercise rehabilitation (3). Moreover, the measured outcome for studies involving IF are almost exclusively disease scoring and body composition, with little to no consideration functional movement recovery (3). Therefore, this study wants to look at the effects of IF on exercise-based functional output in an animal model of cardiovascular disease.
METHODS:
The effect of time-restricted feeding (TRF) on functional movement recovery (specifically locomotion and fine motor control) was tested in aged (>15months) and young (2-6months) mice, and compared to age-matched animals who had access to food ad libitum (FAL). TRF was defined as sixteen hours without access and eight hours with access to food. The feeding period for the TRF cohort coincided with the active (awake) period of the mouse circadian rhythm. TRF was initiated two days after stroke was induced. Movement recovery was measured via the rotating pole test and the sticky tape removal test, and were conducted 2 days prior to stroke to obtain a baseline measurement, and at post-stroke days 2, 7, 14, 21, 37. Results were analysed for significance using mixed effects models taking into consideration feeding condition, age, and sex.
RESULTS:
TRF has no effect on behavioural outcome in both aged and young cohorts, in both pre- and post-stroke conditions. Unexpectedly however, we observed that TRF increased the mortality rate of aged male mice compared to aged female mice (34% survival at day 40 compared to 100% survival, p = 0.002), and compared to FAL aged male mice (80% survival at day 40, p = 0.041).
CONCLUSION:
IF, though commonly thought to be an eating pattern with cardiometabolic benefits, increases mortality in aged males. The lack of weight loss was expected, mimicking the most common form of IF in humans (IF with no caloric restriction). Meanwhile, caloric restriction with active rehabilitation does show reduced risk factors in diseased and athletic populations (3,4). Therefore, we show that in IF, it is not the time window of which one eats that yields health benefits in disease and movement rehabilitation, but rather simple caloric restriction. These findings can be used to further benefit rehabilitation programmes for the aging, diseased, and athletic populations to promote functional recovery with nutrition in mind. 1. Kozjek 2025, 2. Barve 2025, 3. Conde-Pipó 2024, 4. Fonta 2008