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Can intermittent, time‐restricted circadian fasting modulate cutaneous severity of dermatological disorders? Insights from a multicenter, observational, prospective study
Author(s) -
Bragazzi Nicola Luigi,
Trabelsi Khaled,
Garbarino Sergio,
Ammar Achraf,
Chtourou Hamdi,
Pacifico Alessia,
Malagoli Piergiorgio,
Kocic Hristina,
Conic Rosalynn R. Z.,
Kridin Khalaf,
Pigatto Paolo Daniele Maria,
Damiani Giovanni
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
dermatologic therapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.595
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1529-8019
pISSN - 1396-0296
DOI - 10.1111/dth.14912
Subject(s) - medicine , observational study , circadian rhythm , prospective cohort study , dermatology
The impact of intermittent circadian fasting (ICF) on skin disorders is far to be plenty deciphered. However, the circadian rhythm seems to exert a modulation on dermatoses severity, drug‐response, and drug‐related side effects. We aimed to evaluate ICF effect in the daily management of dermatological diseases. In this multicenter, prospective observational study we enrolled patients willing to undergo the 2018 ICF (from May 16 to June 14). Dermatoses severity were evaluated at the beginning of ICF (T0) and at the end of ICF (T1) by two independent board‐certified dermatologists. Seventy‐two patients suffering from different dermatoses volunteered to take part into the study. They displayed a mean age of 40.38 ± 12.46 years (median 41.0 years), 25 subjects were males (34.7% of the entire sample). The median weight change was 0 kg. The overall ICF effect size was −0.58 ([95% CI −0.83 to −0.33], P < .0001, medium effect size). Since in the present investigation no weight loss occurred, we could speculate that the impact of fasting in terms of improvements in the clinical symptoms could be rather due to the perturbation of the human biological clock. Despite our data remain preliminary, a chronobiological approach should be incorporated in the dermatological armamentarium.