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Updated: Mar 13, 2026

Assessment of the Metabolic Effects of Isocaloric 2:1 Intermittent Fasting in Mice
Published on: November 27, 2019
Immune austerity: How the body balances its books when calories run low
Francesco Siracusa1, Nicola Gagliani1
1Institute for Inflammation and Carcinogenesis, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany; Hamburg Center for Translational Immunology (HCTI), University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Abstract:
Immune responses are energetically costly and must adapt to systemic nutrient availability. How immunity is reorganized to preserve host glucose during caloric restriction remains unclear. In this issue of Immunity, Menezes-Silva et al. show that dietary restriction, via glucocorticoids, rewires innate and adaptive immunity, and this leads to the conservation of glucose while maintaining protective host defense.
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