Transcriptome analysis reveals intermittent fasting-induced genetic changes in ischemic stroke

Intermittent fasting is previously reported to exhibit neuroprotection against experimental ischemic stroke. However, the detailed understanding of protection mechanisms are lacking. By observing the overall transcriptomic changes in each timepoint of ischemic stroke would benefit the understanding of underlying active pathways and mechanisms. Here, we conduct experimental MCAO ischemic stroke on mice exposed to different daily intermittent fasting method to compare not only among the ischemic stroke timepoints but also the efficacy of different intermittent fasting interventions. Our current study presented the transcriptomic changes for the first time in specific timepoints of ischemic stroke as well as under the condition of intermittent fasting. A number of neuroprotective mechanisms-related genes were significantly affected by intermittent fasting conditions in differential manners. After 4 months of exposure to daily 12 or 16 h of intermittent fasting, mice were conducted with MCAO for 1 h to induce experimental ischemic stroke on single hemisphere of the brain. Mid-coronal section of ipsilateral cerebrum was dissected after 1 h of ischemia, or at 3, 12, 24, and 72 h after initiation of reperfusion. Total RNA was extracted from collected brain tissue samples and mRNA sequencing was conducted using Illumina HiSeq 4000 system.