title: How does the ketogenic diet work? Four potential mechanisms.
abstract: The ketogenic diet and its newer variants are clinically useful in treating epilepsy. They can also have antiepileptogenic properties and can eventually have a role in treating other neurologic and nonneurologic conditions. Despite being nearly a century old, identifying the molecular underpinnings of the ketogenic diet has been challenging. However, recent studies provide experimental evidence for 4 distinct mechanisms that could contribute to the antiseizure and other beneficial effects of these diets. These mechanisms include carbohydrate reduction, activation of adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-sensitive potassium channels by mitochondrial metabolism, inhibition of the mammalian target of rapamycin pathway, and inhibition of glutamatergic excitatory synaptic transmission.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cancer Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Nika N
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: Danial
authors.forename: Adam L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Hartman
authors.forename: Carl E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Stafstrom
authors.forename: Liu Lin
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Thio
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D050528:Diet, Carbohydrate-Restricted; D055423:Diet, Ketogenic / Q000379:methods*; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000178:diet therapy* / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D015221:Potassium Channels; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D015221:Potassium Channels
keywords: ATP-sensitive K channel; Seizure; epilepsy; glucose; ketogenic diet; mammalian target of rapamycin; mechanism of action; vesicular glutamate transporters