REVIEW article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition and Metabolism
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1604872
Intermittent Fasting in Osteoarthritis: From Mechanistic Insights to Therapeutic Potential
Provisionally accepted
- 1Shanghai Fourth People's Hospital, Shanghai, China
- 2Department of Rehabilitation, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning Province, China
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Osteoarthritis (OA) is a prevalent whole-joint disease characterized by cartilage degradation, subchondral bone remodeling, synovial inflammation, and systemic metabolic dysregulation, imposing significant health and socioeconomic burdens globally. Conventional treatments primarily offer symptomatic relief without addressing the underlying disease mechanisms. Recently, intermittent fasting (IF), defined by cyclic caloric restriction and metabolic switching, has emerged as a promising lifestyle intervention with therapeutic potential for OA. Preclinical and preliminary clinical studies suggest that IF beneficially impacts OA pathogenesis by improving metabolic profiles, reducing systemic and local joint inflammation, activating cellular protective autophagy pathways, and positively modulating the gut microbiota. This review systematically synthesizes current mechanistic insights, preclinical findings, and emerging clinical evidence regarding IF's role in OA prevention and treatment. We also address practical considerations for implementing IF in clinical practice and outline future research priorities necessary to validate and optimize IF protocols tailored for OA management.
Keywords: Osteoarthritis, intermittent fasting, Metabolic Regulation, Inflammation, Gut Microbiota
Received: 02 Apr 2025; Accepted: 04 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Sun, Zhao, Wang, Zhang and He. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Anren Zhang, Shanghai Fourth People's Hospital, Shanghai, China
Yu He, Department of Rehabilitation, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning Province, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.