Preoperative short-term fasting protects liver injury in patients undergoing hepatectomy.

Background: Our previous study demonstrated that preoperative short-term fasting attenuates mice hepatic ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI), which greatly piqued our interest in verifying if fasting produces similar protective effects in patients undergoing hepatectomy.

Methods: Eighty patients with liver tumors were randomized into control (Ctrl, n=40, preoperative fasting for 6 h) or fasting group (Fasting, n=40, preoperative fasting for 24 h). Serum was collected at pre-operation (Pre-Op), post-operation 1 day (POD-1), post-operation 3 days (POD-3), and post-operation 7 days (POD-7). Liver tissue was removed from the resected specimen.

Results: Sixty-three patients were eventually enrolled, with 33 in Ctrl and 30 in Fasting group. Our data showed that 24 h fasting effectively attenuated elevated sALT and sAST levels after operation (P<0.05), but serum total bilirubin was significantly lower at only POD-3 (P<0.05); and serum albumin was not markedly different in either of the groups. Interestingly, 24 h fasting partially attenuates expression of pro-inflammatory cytokine (TNF-α) and improves oxidative stress (MDA and SOD). Our data further showed short-term fasting triggered Nrf2 signaling pathway.

Conclusions: This study demonstrates preoperative short-term fasting effectively improves clinical outcomes and markedly attenuates inflammatory responses and oxidative stress in patients undergoing hepatectomy, and Nrf2 signaling pathway may play a key role in fasting against inflammatory responses and oxidant stress.