Girish Melkani, Ph.D., recently Promoted to professor in the Department of Pathology, has been named the latest recipient of the school’s Featured Discovery award. This recognition celebrates notable research contributions made by faculty and highlights the impact of their scientific advancements.
Melkani’s study “Time-restricted feeding mediated modulation of microbiota leads to changes in muscle physiology in Drosophila obesity models” was published in Aging Cell.
Through research using Drosophila (fruit fly) genetic models, Melkani and his team discovered a pivotal link between gut microbiota and muscle physiology, particularly under time-restricted feeding (TRF). TRF is a dietary approach that involves limiting food intake to specific windows of time. Melkani said “While the microbiota’s role in metabolism has long been recognized, its modulation by TRF and its impact on skeletal muscle function remain underexplored. These findings highlight a novel axis of communication between the gut and muscle that may open new avenues for therapeutic interventions in metabolic and age-associated disorders. Melkani further emphasized that the elimination of all gut microbiome enhanced muscle performance in cases of obesity. However, muscle function was impaired in healthy flies. The study highlights how the microbiome interacts with metabolism depending on one’s health status. “TRF promoted the growth of beneficial microbes while reducing harmful ones, leading to better muscle performance, enhanced energy production, and improved glucose regulation,” Melkani explained. The research findings revealed that timing and diet composition can positively impact muscle and metabolic health in instances of obesity.
The Heersink communications team met with Melkani to gain insights into the study and help raise awareness about both the research and the Heersink School of Medicine.
What compelled you to pursue this research?
We were motivated by evidence suggesting that when we eat may be as important as what we eat. Because skeletal muscles are central to energy balance and glucose regulation, we wanted to know if TRF could enhance muscle health by influencing gut microbiome. This approach allowed us to connect diet timing, microbiome changes, and muscle performance in a single study.
What was your most unexpected finding?
The most surprising discovery was that eliminating gut bacteria had opposite effects depending on health status. Muscle performance worsened without microbiome in healthy flies, but in obese flies, performance improved. This showed us that the microbiome can act very differently in normal versus diseased states.
How do you feel your research will impact the science community?
Our findings open new directions for understanding the gut-muscle connection and its role in metabolic health. By linking TRF and microbiome changes to muscle performance, we provide a framework for exploring dietary timing as a non-drug strategy for improving muscle function. This could inspire both basic and translational research in aging, obesity, and metabolic disease.
What is your research’s relevance to human disease (if applicable)?
Because muscle controls much of the body’s glucose use, our findings directly relate to obesity, diabetes, and age-related muscle decline. Our work suggests targeting the gut microbiome through TRF may help restore muscle health and metabolic balance. These insights could eventually guide lifestyle interventions to prevent or manage chronic diseases in humans.
When did you know you had an important discovery?
We realized the significance of our work when we observed the opposite effects of removing gut bacteria in normal and obese flies. This striking difference immediately revealed that the microbiome’s role in muscle health is context dependent. Linking this to TRF provided a new perspective on how meal timing can be harnessed to improve health.
How has being at UAB and living in Birmingham affected your research?
UAB’s microbiome core and collaborative environment made this work possible. Birmingham's supportive research culture fosters interdisciplinary studies like ours, where nutrition, microbiology, and muscle physiology come together.