Background: Intermittent fasting (IF) is a 16/8 fasting model, which is supposed to recruit immune cells to the bone marrow, thus prevents immune exhaustion. The aim of this study was to compare the frequency of naive, memory, and effector T lymphocytes in blood circulation before and after IF.Methods: Proportion of CD4+CXCR7+CD45RA+ (naïve T cells), CD4+CXCR7+CD45RA- (memory T cells), and CD4+CXCR7- CD45RA- (effector T cells) cells were evaluated in 18 healthy young men in the week before and on the last day of Ramadan fasting, resembling IF, using flowcytometry.Results: The percentage of peripheral blood naïve T cells reduced significantly at the end of Ramadan fasting (p=0.001); however, the frequency of memory and effector T cells did not change.Conclusion: The decreased number of circulatory naïve T cells suggests a protective effect of intermittent fasting on immunosenescence and immune exhaustion. Also, preserved proportion of effector T cells is suggestive of an intact immunocompetence despite 4 weeks of IF.
Assadiasl et al. (Sun,) studied this question.