A new study from Michigan Medicine suggests that following a low-calorie diet and doing high-intensity exercise could reduce nerve damage in prediabetic mice.
This research offers hope for finding better ways to manage peripheral neuropathy, a common and painful condition linked to obesity, prediabetes, and type 2 diabetes.
Peripheral neuropathy is a condition where the nerves outside the brain and spinal cord become damaged, causing pain, tingling, or numbness, especially in the hands and feet.
Over 20 million people in the United States suffer from this condition, yet effective treatments are limited. Doctors often recommend diet and exercise, but there is little detailed guidance on what type of diet or exercise is best.
Dr. Stéphanie Eid, a researcher at the University of Michigan Medical School, explained that this study helps pinpoint specific lifestyle changes that could reduce nerve damage in people with obesity and diabetes.
To investigate, the research team studied mice fed a high-fat diet. These mice developed obesity and nerve damage, along with a condition where their peripheral nerves became resistant to insulin.
This nerve insulin resistance is a hallmark of diabetes and contributes to neuropathy. The team then tested whether dietary changes and exercise could help reverse this damage.
The researchers tried three interventions on the mice: reducing calorie intake by 40%, introducing high-intensity interval training (HIIT), or combining both.
HIIT is a type of workout where short bursts of intense exercise are followed by periods of rest or lower-intensity activity.
The results, published in the journal Diabetes, showed promising improvements.
Reducing calories alone or combined with HIIT helped lower the negative effects of the high-fat diet, such as poor blood sugar control and weight gain. Both approaches also improved the health of the peripheral nerves.
Interestingly, the low-calorie diet had the strongest overall effect on the mice’s metabolic health. However, adding HIIT provided additional benefits, showing that diet and exercise can work together to boost health.
One way these interventions worked was by activating an enzyme called AMPK in the nerves. AMPK plays an important role in managing the body’s energy. When it is active, cells can use energy more efficiently, which can help repair damaged nerves.
In neuropathy, AMPK activity tends to be low, which contributes to nerve injury. The study found that the diet, with or without HIIT, restored AMPK activity in the mice’s sciatic nerves, the main nerves that run through the legs.
The researchers also tested this in a lab setting by studying Schwann cells, which form the protective layer around nerves. Activating AMPK in these cells reversed insulin resistance, showing how it could help repair damaged nerves.
Dr. Eva Feldman, a senior researcher on the study, emphasized how understanding the role of Schwann cells and AMPK in nerve health could lead to new treatments.
For people who cannot commit to significant diet or exercise changes, targeting AMPK through medication could be a promising alternative. The team plans to explore these possibilities further.
This study highlights the potential of lifestyle changes to treat a condition that affects millions of people. By understanding how diet and exercise influence nerve health, researchers hope to create more effective treatments for peripheral neuropathy in the future.
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The research findings can be found in Diabetes.
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