How the Keto Diet Prevents Seizures
A team led by the School of Medicine’s Jaideep Kapur, MBBS, PhD, have revealed how the popular, low-carb ketogenic diet protects against epilepsy seizures and possibly neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
The ketogenic diet has been used to reduce seizures in patients with medication-resistant epilepsy since the 1920s, yet doctors haven't understood how it does this. Until now.
Our Jaideep Kapur, MBBS, PhD, co-director of UVA’s Brain Institute, and colleagues have discovered that a molecule, or "ketone," produced by the diet acts to calm neurons (nerve cells) in lab mice. When neurons get too excited, they can trigger seizures. The ketone, then, helps prevent this.
“The body converts the keto diet to a ketone body called β-hydroxybutyrate," Dr. Kapur explained. "We discovered that HCAR2 helps β-hydroxybutyrate reduce seizures by regulating the activity and communication of brain cells."
Dr. Kapur's research could one day allow patients to enjoy the benefits of the keto diet without the highly restrictive diet it requires. To stay "in keto," people have to avoid carbohydrates and sweets almost entirely.
It may be possible, Dr. Kapur says, to develop drugs that will produce the same neuron-soothing benefits. For example, the team’s work in lab mice suggests that niacin – vitamin B3 – may provide at least some benefit, though more research is needed to determine that.
“We are now exploring how this receptor modulates brain immune responses through microglia,” Dr. Kapur said. “These studies would allow us to come up with novel therapies for drug-resistant epilepsy and potentially other disorders such as multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease.”