Ketone bodies, glycolysis, and KATP channels in the mechanism of the ketogenic diet.
The ketogenic diet (KD) has shown remarkable efficacy in the treatment of drug-resistant childhood epilepsy. Our understanding of how the KD produces its anticonvulsant and antiepileptogenic effects remains incomplete, which is perhaps not surprising for a biological manipulation as sweeping as dietary change. Several hypotheses focus on ketone bodies, fuel molecules that circulate at millimolar concentrations in the blood of patients on a KD, as causative agents. Here I consider some recent evidence for one such hypothesis, involving a possible role for altered glycolysis and consequent activation of a class of potassium channels called K(ATP)channels.
Yellen
Gary
G
Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. gary yellen@hms.harvard.edu
D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D055423:Diet, Ketogenic; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000178:diet therapy*; D006019:Glycolysis / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D054086:KATP Channels / Q000378:metabolism*; D007657:Ketone Bodies / Q000378:metabolism*
D054086:KATP Channels; D007657:Ketone Bodies