Nikhil Prasad Fact checked by:Thailand Medical News Team Jan 01, 2026 1 hour, 55 minutes ago
Medical News:
Intermittent Fasting May Protect Eyes from Glaucoma
Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of irreversible blindness worldwide, yet current treatments mainly focus on lowering eye pressure. Scientists have long suspected that other hidden processes, including immune system reactions, may also play a role in damaging the eye. A new animal study from Germany now suggests that intermittent fasting could help protect eye cells from glaucoma related damage by calming harmful inflammation.
Intermittent fasting reduced inflammation and protected vital eye nerve cells in a
glaucoma mouse model
This
Medical News report highlights findings from researchers at Ruhr University Bochum in Bochum Germany, who explored how diet patterns influence glaucoma like damage in a laboratory mouse model.
Heat Shock Protein 27
Earlier research found that people with glaucoma often have higher levels of antibodies against a protein called heat shock protein 27 or HSP27. When this protein was injected into the eyes of mice in previous studies, it caused damage similar to glaucoma. Based on this, researchers wanted to know if intermittent fasting could reduce or prevent this damage.
How the Study Was Conducted
The researchers injected HSP27 into one eye of each mouse while leaving the other eye untreated as a control. Half of the mice ate normally, while the other half followed an intermittent fasting routine with no food for 24 hours three days a week. The study lasted four weeks.
Throughout the experiment, the mice were regularly weighed and their eye structure was examined using advanced eye imaging. The scientists also carefully analyzed eye tissue to count nerve cells, measure inflammation, and detect changes in important immune signals. Blood samples were tested to look for inflammatory substances circulating throughout the body.
Key Findings Explained Simply
Mice that received HSP27 without fasting showed clear damage to retinal ganglion cells, which are vital nerve cells responsible for sending visual signals to the brain. These mice also showed signs of inflammation and stress within the eye.
However, mice that followed intermittent fasting were largely protected. Their eye nerve cells remained at healthy levels, similar to untreated eyes. Harmful inflammatory markers such as TNF alpha, IL 1 beta, and IL 6 were significantly reduced both in the eyes and in the bloodstream. Importantly, fasting also reduced the activation of support cells that can worsen nerve damage when overstimulated.
What This Means for Glaucoma Care
The results suggest that intermittent fasting may help protect eye nerves by reducing immune driven inflammation rather than affecting eye pressure directly. The conclusions indicate that intermittent fasting may serve as a supportive lifestyle strategy that targets inflammation and immune imbalance to help preserve vision in glaucoma.
The study findings were published as an abstract in the peer reviewed journal: Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience.
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cellular-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fncel.2025.1690991/abstract
For the latest on Glaucoma, keep on logging to Thailand
Medical News.
Read Also:
https://www.thailandmedical.news/articles/glaucoma-news
Share
Tweet
Share
