The ketogenic diet metabolite beta-hydroxybutyrate ( β-HB) reduces incidence of seizure-like activity (SLA) in a Katp- and GABAb-dependent manner in a whole-animal Drosophila melanogaster model

The ketogenic diet (KD) is a high-fat, low-carbohydrate dietary therapy featuring an elevated ratio (typically 4:1) of lipids to non-lipids (Wilder, 1921; Thiele, 2003). The KD is used effectively in the clinic to reduce drug-resistant seizures in cases of pediatric epilepsy (Thiele, 2003; Neal et al., 2008) and may be effective in treating adult cases of epilepsy as well (for example, see Lambrechts et al., 2012). The KD produces high levels of circulating ketone bodies (KB ’s), such as beta-hydroxybutyrate (β-HB) (Appleton and DeVivo, 1974; DeVivo et al., 1978), which may be used as fuel by the brain (Sokoloff, 1973) and are thought to produce the KD’s anticonvulsant properties (Bough and Rho, 2007; McNally and Hartman, 2012).
Source: Epilepsy Research - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: Short communication Source Type: research