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04 August 2023 | Story The Conversation | Photo supplied
Claudia Ntsapi
Dr Claudia Ntsapi, Basic Medical Sciences Lecturer at the University of the Free State.

Opinion article by , Basic Medical Sciences Lecturer


As the world population has grown older, Alzheimer’s disease has become increasingly common. Alzheimer’s disease is the most prevalent form of dementia. Dementia is a term used to describe a range of symptoms linked to the decline in brain function with age. Symptoms include memory loss, communication difficulties, problem-solving struggles, and personality or behavioural changes.

Alzheimer’s disease is an increasingly urgent global issue. The World Health Organization predicts that the number of people with the condition will triple by 2050.

Despite this growing problem, Alzheimer’s disease remains a relatively understudied condition. This is particularly the case in sub-Saharan countries such as South Africa. One major challenge is that Alzheimer’s is a complex condition with no known cure. However, researchers have identified several key risk factors associated with the disease. These include age, genetics, lifestyle factors and underlying medical conditions.

In recent years, one of the most promising areas of research on age-related diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, has been the accumulation of harmful proteins in the brain. Specifically amyloid-ß. Amyloid-ß has remained a prominent area of research in Alzheimer’s disease as its build-up is a classic feature in the development of the condition. Understanding its involvement in the disease process is crucial for advancing our knowledge and developing effective strategies to diagnose, prevent and treat the disease.

The accumulation of amyloid-ß can lead to the formation of plaques. These plaques can interfere with communication between brain cells. This ultimately contributes to cognitive decline and other symptoms associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

Amyloid-ß is a large membrane protein that is essential in neural growth and repair. But its corrupted form in later life can destroy nerve cells. This triggers the loss of thought and memory that is associated with Alzheimer’s.

We therefore sought to find out if dietary interventions, particularly intermittent fasting, would counteract the accumulation of amyloid-ß in the brain and potentially safeguard against age-related brain cell death.

In a paper published in 2021, my colleague and I showed that in experiments conducted in mice we found that intermittent fasting counteracted amyloid-ß accumulation in the brain. These findings were further confirmed in a paper published in May of 2022.

Our findings are an important contribution to the search for the potential role of dietary interventions and are consistent with previous studies supporting the idea that intermittent fasting may help counteract amyloid-ß accumulation in the brain and protect against age-related brain cell death. To my knowledge, the most recent study using a variation of intermittent fasting, was published in September 2022. The clinical branch of this study remains ongoing.

Research into the causes of Alzheimer’s has gathered pace in recent years with new ground being broken on a regular basis as scientists search for treatments.

Our study’s findings suggest that intermittent fasting may be an effective way to increase the efficiency of autophagy – the process that breaks down and recycles damaged or unnecessary cellular components, such as organelles and toxic proteins. This process can therefore reduce the risk of amyloid-ß build-up and associated brain cell death.

These findings are particularly significant because they shed light on the relationship between autophagy and the death of brain cells with age, and the potential therapeutic benefits of interventions that target this process.

How it works

Intermittent fasting is a dietary approach that involves regulating food intake by alternating periods of fasting and eating. This dietary regimen comprises periods of restricted food consumption, followed by periods of normal eating.

There are different types of intermittent fasting. One is time-restricted eating, where food is consumed within a specific time window each day. Alternate-day fasting is where food is restricted every other day.

Intermittent fasting has been shown to have various health benefits. Some of the benefits relate to the promotion of brain health.

Our study’s findings suggest that intermittent fasting may be an effective way to increase the efficiency of autophagy, an essential process for removing toxic or misfolded proteins that can build up in cells.

Sometimes autophagy doesn’t work properly to remove harmful proteins or other cellular components from cells. This has been strongly implicated in the development and progression of various age-related diseases, and is a target of research for potential therapies.

What we did

In our study we investigated the effects of intermittent fasting on brain cells in mice, and brain cells isolated from mice with increased amyloid-ß toxicity. Mice cells are frequently used as a model for human cells in scientific research. This is because of the significant genetic similarity between mice and humans. This use of animal models allows researchers to gain valuable insights and test hypotheses. It is generally considered ethically preferable before potentially conducting human studies.

We found that 24 to 48 hours of intermittent fasting by mice provided protection against cell death in specific regions of their brain. We noted increased autophagy levels in cells of fasted mice. Even in the presence of a high amyloid-ß protein load in brain cells, intermittent fasting maintained autophagy activity. And the process remained effective over a 21-day treatment intervention period.

By increasing the efficiency of autophagy, it is possible to maintain the removal of harmful proteins in cells, even as we age.

The findings of this study suggest that interventions such as intermittent fasting could potentially protect against the development of age-related diseases. This has important implications for public health.

Intermittent fasting is a relatively simple dietary intervention: it’s easy to do. It has the potential to be widely adopted as a preventive measure against the onset of age-related diseases. These findings also provide a basis for future research into the mechanisms by which intermittent fasting protects against brain cell death, exploring the potential for additional therapeutic interventions that target autophagy, and examining the effects of different fasting regimens on brain health.The Conversation

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

News Archive

Council votes on appointment of senior staff
2004-11-18

The Council of the University of the Free State (UFS) today voted on the filling of three senior vacancies, including one post at Dean level and two at the level of Vice-Dean.

The Council voted as follows:

Dr Natie Luyt will be offered the post of Dean: Student Affairs Prof Engela Pretorius will be offered the post of Vice-Dean: Faculty of Humanities Dr Choice Makhetha will be offered the post of Vice-Dean: Student Affairs

“There are special challenges for the UFS in the short and medium term regarding transformation of our residences, and a certain combination of management qualities and skills is desirable. As a result of the diversity of the UFS’s student community it is therefore important to us to follow a team approach to deal with the challenges. With the combination of Drs Luyt and Makhetha, I believe we will be able to manage student affairs effectively and skillfully,” says Prof Frederick Fourie, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS.

“It is wonderful that we are able to celebrate the outcome of this process that has brought forward such excellent candidates who reflect our country’s diversity. It shows that we can achieve the goals of quality and diversity at the same time,” says Prof Fourie.

Prof Pretorius obtained all her qualifications (BA, BA (Hons) (cum laude), MA (cum laude) and D Phil) from the UFS, except for the Certificate in Gender Policy Management (cum laude) which she obtained in 2000 from WITS. She joined the Department of Sociology at UFS in 1980 and has headed the Department since 2001. She acted as Vice-Dean: Faculty of Humanities since July 2004. She has some thirty publications to her credit, published both nationally and internationally and has delivered 20 national and international papers. She is a member of the South African Sociological Association and is a member of the Council of the association and of the Editorial Board of Society in Transition, the society’s journal. She is also a member of the South African Academy for Science and Art and the Federation of African Women Educationalists in South Africa (FAWESA). Project involvement includes the Australian Women’s Executive Development Programme and the project Executive Development of Senior Women in South African Higher Education Institutions. She is also an NRF panelist.

Dr Luyt obtained his qualifications (BA, BA (Hons) (cum laude), MA (cum laude) and D Phil) at the UFS and started his career at the same institution in 1980 as lecturer in Political Science. He was promoted to senior lecturer in 1983 and appointed as Director: Student Affairs in 1997. He has been acting as Dean: Student Affairs since 2003. Dr Luyt completed several work-related training courses, among others a course in ethnic and multiculturality at the Swiss Institute for Federalism and a course in conflict management at the South Tyrolean Economic and Social Institute.

Dr Makheta also obtained all her qualifications (BA, BA (Hons), MA in Political Science and Ph D in Political Science) at the UFS and started working as a student assistant in Political Science at the same institution in 1999. She was promoted to junior assistant in 2000, coordinator and facilitator of Political Science in 2001, assistant/acting Director: Student Affairs in 2001 and acting Director: Student Affairs in 2003. Dr Makhetha is currently a Senior Political Analyst at the Department of Foreign Affairs.

The UFS Council also approved the promotion of nine professors to the rank of senior professor. They are Proff Louise Cilliers (Department English and Classical Languages), Dap Louw (Department of Psychology), Philip Nel (Department Afro-Asiatic Studies, Sign Language and Language Practice), Dirk van den Berg (Department of History of Art and Visual Culture Studies) Dingie van Rensburg (Director: Centre for Health Systems Research and Develoment), Andries Raath (Department of Constitutional Law and Philosophy of Law), James du Preez (Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology), Johan Grobbelaar (Department of Plant Sciences) and Louis Scott (Department of Plant Sciences).

This is the first group ever of senior professors at the UFS. The post level was created to provide better career and earnings opportunities for high quality academics and to increase the attractiveness of an academic career to young people.

Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel: (051) 401-2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
 

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