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The Ketogenic Diet and Brain Metabolism

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Neural Metabolism In Vivo

Part of the book series: Advances in Neurobiology ((NEUROBIOL,volume 4))

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Abstract

Glucose ordinarily is the major brain fuel. However, the consumption of a diet high in fat evokes a brisk ketonemia (1–2 mmol/l) and provides brain with substrates (3-OH-butyrate and acetoacetate) that can furnish almost half of cerebral energy requirements. Such a diet also confers a potent anti-epileptic effect, even in patients whose epilepsy has proved refractory to anti-convulsant drugs. The precise basis of the therapeutic effect is not clear, but a ketogenic diet alters brain metabolism of many compounds, including the handling of neurotransmitter amino acids such as glutamate, aspartate, glutamine and GABA. This review summarizes some of these changes and considers how such adaptations might attenuate or even prevent a seizure diathesis.

Supported by grants HD269711, RR00240, U54RR019453, U54RR023567, DK047870 from NIH

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Department of Pediatrics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Marc Yudkoff M.D.

  2. Division of Child Development, Rehabilitation and Metabolic Disease, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Marc Yudkoff M.D.

  3. Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Department of Pediatrics, University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Yevgeny Daikhin M.D., Oksana Horyn, Ilana Nissim & Itzhak Nissim

Authors
  1. Marc Yudkoff M.D.
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  2. Yevgeny Daikhin M.D.
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  3. Oksana Horyn
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  4. Ilana Nissim
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  5. Itzhak Nissim
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Correspondence to Marc Yudkoff M.D. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Medicine, Hoglund Brain Imaging Center, University of Kansas, Rainbow Blvd. 3901, Kansas City, 66160, Kansas, USA

    In-Young Choi

  2. Inst. Physique de la Matière Complexe, Labo. d'Imagerie Fonctionnelle et, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, 1015, Switzerland

    Rolf Gruetter

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Yudkoff, M., Daikhin, Y., Horyn, O., Nissim, I., Nissim, I. (2012). The Ketogenic Diet and Brain Metabolism. In: Choi, IY., Gruetter, R. (eds) Neural Metabolism In Vivo. Advances in Neurobiology, vol 4. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-1788-0_28

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