Background Intermittent Fasting (IF) has proved to have various positive effects on life span, diseases, and healing of tissues in rodents. We evaluated the protective effect of fasting in maintaining the ischemic zones in burn wounds. Methods In this study, 20 rats were divided into two groups where the IF rats were deprived of food for three months. Burn wounds were created by burn comb model on the back of all rats. On days 3 and 21 post-burning, five rats in each group were euthanized whereby samples were collected for histopathological, immunohistochemical (Bcl2, P53 and VEGF), and biochemical (MDA, TAC, HP) evaluations. Results Histopathological analysis revealed epithelial layer and zone of ischemia remained viable in the IF group on day 3. On the 21st day, epithelialization, angiogenesis, inflammatory level, fibrocyte-fibroblast, and collagen density were different in the ischemic and necrotic zones between the control and IF groups (P Value <0.05). There were no statistical differences in Bcl2, P53, VEGF, MDA, TAC, and HP on day 3 between the IF and control groups. Conclusions Intermittent fasting before burn wounds can reduce tissue damage caused by ischemia and enhance the viability of cells in zone of stasis. It can also accelerate wound healing by increasing epithelialization and collagen production in the skin and regulating inflammatory responses. This intervention causes better collagen arrangement and angiogenesis in the IF group.

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