Effects of Ramadan intermittent fasting on inflammatory and biochemical biomarkers in males with obesity.

• Obesity is a key health risk factor characterized by an excessive accumulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines that play a major role in the development of metabolic syndrome. • Intermittent fasting (IF) is among the popular strategies to prevent or improve obesity-related risk factors. • IF affects positively body composition and systemic inflammation biomarkers in individual with obesity. • IF could be an effective strategy modify inflammation in individual with obesity. To determine the effects of Ramadan intermittent fasting (RIF) on inflammatory (C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α)) and biochemical markers of liver-renal function (aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine amino transferase (ALT), bilirubin, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), urea and creatinine) in males with obesity. Twenty-eight males with obesity were randomly allocated to an experimental group (EG, n = 14) or a control group (CG, n = 14). The EG group completed their fasting rituals for the entire month of Ramadan (30 days) whereas the CG group continued with their normal daily habits. Blood samples were collected 24 h before the start of Ramadan (T0), on the 15th day of Ramadan (T1), the day after the end of Ramadan (T2), and 21 days after the end of Ramadan (T3). Resting plasma volume variation between pre and post-RIF (ΔPV) was calculated. Decreases were noted for interleukin-6 (p = 0.02, d = 1.4) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (p = 0.01, d = 0.7), with no changes for C-reactive protein (p = 0.3; d = 0.1) in the EG compared to CG group. There were no changes (P > 0.05) in ΔPV recorded after RIF for either EG (-0.035 ± 0.02%) and CG (0.055 ± 0.06%). This study demonstrates that RIF improves systemic inflammation biomarkers in males with obesity. Moreover, RIF did not negatively affect biomarkers of liver and renal function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]