The Neural Protective Effects of Intermittent Fasting in Adult Drosophila Following Traumatic Brain Injury Exposure.
- 1San Deigo State University
Abstract
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains a major cause of neurological-based morbidity and mortality in different human populations. Repetitive, mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is increasingly recognized as a contributor to progressive neural attrition. Dietary measures that are neural protective could provide an accessible means for impacted human populations to alter outcomes in relation to neurological diseases. Intermittent fasting (IF) has been associated with metabolic and neuroprotective benefits for several neurological disease models, including Drosophila melanogaster models that are used to study neurological disorders linked to TBI exposure. Using two IF regimens, we examined the outcomes of adult Drosophila in conjunction with aging and mTBI. Overall, when exposed to trauma, IF-treated adult cohorts exhibited longer lifespans, lower mortality rates and improved behavioral responses. This included young (10-day) and middle aged (21-day) flies exposed to either Pre- or Post-IF conditions. Additionally, expression analysis showed IF treatments significantly reduced expression levels of Drosophila inflammatory markers (AMPs) in adult neural tissues from traumatized flies. The indications are that the net positive impact of IF found for longevity and trauma responses could be due to lower levels of secondary neuronal damage.
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BibTeX
@misc{rojas2026neural,
title = {{The Neural Protective Effects of Intermittent Fasting in Adult Drosophila Following Traumatic Brain Injury Exposure.}},
author = {J. J. Rojas and M. Intal and A. Kawwa and C. Thomassian and R. Squier and S. Mudrak and K. Lawani and K. D. Finley},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.64898/2026.10.12.758363},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.12.758363v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - The Neural Protective Effects of Intermittent Fasting in Adult Drosophila Following Traumatic Brain Injury Exposure.
AU - J. J. Rojas
AU - M. Intal
AU - A. Kawwa
AU - C. Thomassian
AU - R. Squier
AU - S. Mudrak
AU - K. Lawani
AU - K. D. Finley
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/12
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.10.12.758363
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.12.758363v1
AB - Traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains a major cause of neurological-based morbidity and mortality in different human populations. Repetitive, mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is increasingly recognized as a contributor to progressive neural attrition. Dietary measures that are neural protective could provide an accessible means for impacted human populations to alter outcomes in relation to neurological diseases. Intermittent fasting (IF) has been associated with metabolic and neuroprotective benefits for several neurological disease models, including Drosophila melanogaster models that are used to study neurological disorders linked to TBI exposure. Using two IF regimens, we examined the outcomes of adult Drosophila in conjunction with aging and mTBI. Overall, when exposed to trauma, IF-treated adult cohorts exhibited longer lifespans, lower mortality rates and improved behavioral responses. This included young (10-day) and middle aged (21-day) flies exposed to either Pre- or Post-IF conditions. Additionally, expression analysis showed IF treatments significantly reduced expression levels of Drosophila inflammatory markers (AMPs) in adult neural tissues from traumatized flies. The indications are that the net positive impact of IF found for longevity and trauma responses could be due to lower levels of secondary neuronal damage.
ER -