Assessment of Hematological and Serum Electrolytes Effects of Intermittent Fasting on Mice

Introduction: There is growing interest on trying to explore the importance of fasting to health as it has been practiced as religious exercises for centuries. This study assessed the haematological and serum electrolytes effects of intermittent fasting (IF) on mice.

Methods: Fifty (50) male mice were randomly assigned into five (5) groups A, B, C, D and E (n=10). Group A (control) was fed normal chow ad libitum, experimental groups B,C,D and E were fasted seven weeks intermittently for 12, 18, 24 and 48 hours respectively. Blood samples were collected and analysed for haematological and electrolyte indices. Data obtained were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 25.

Results: Our findings revealed no significant differences in the RBC, HGB, HCT, MCV, MCH and MCHC between the different fasting groups and the control. There was increase significantly in group C for Red density width-coefficient of variance (RDW-CV) and group C and E for Red density width-standard deviation (RDW-SD). Platelet count decreased, plateletcrit increased significantly in group C. There were no significant differences in the mean platelet volume (MPV), platelet distribution width (PDW), platelet-large cell count (P-LCC) and Platelet-large cell ratio (P-LCR). Sodium ion decreased significantly in group C and chloride ion decreased significantly in group B, C and E. There were no significant differences in serum potassium ion and bicarbonate ion.

Conclusion: 12, 24 and 48 hours IF are safe and do not negatively influence hematological indices and electrolyte levels but 18 hours IF could have a slight negative effect on platelet count, plateletcrit and sodium ion levels.