Intermittent fasting for NASH and HCC in mice

A recent study published in Cell Metabolism has investigated the effect of intermittent fasting on nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and NASH-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in mice.

First, the researchers demonstrated that Western diet-fed mice put on an intermittent fasting regimen (consisting of 2 non-consecutive days of fasting per week) were resistant to obesity and had significantly less NASH and fibrosis development compared with non-fasting control mice, and the benefits were independent of total calorie consumption. Further in vivo experiments in mouse models of NASH established that the benefits varied according to what time of day fasting was initiated, as well as the amount and duration of fasting cycles.