title: Proconvulsant effects of the ketogenic diet in electroshock-induced seizures in mice.
abstract: Among non-pharmacological treatments, the ketogenic diet (KD) has the strongest demonstrated evidence of clinical success in drug resistant epilepsy. In an attempt to model the anticonvulsant effects of the KD pre-clinically, the present study assessed the effects of the KD against electroshock-induced convulsions in mice. After confirming that exposure to the KD for 2 weeks resulted in stable ketosis and hypoglycemia, mice were exposed to electroshocks of various intensities to establish general seizure susceptibility. When compared to mice fed the standard rodent chow diet (SRCD), we found that mice fed the KD were more sensitive to electroconvulsions as reflected by a significant decrease in seizure threshold (3.86 mA in mice on the KD vs 7.29 mA in mice on the SRCD; P < 0.05) in the maximal electroshock seizure threshold (MEST) test. To examine if this increased seizure sensitivity to electroconvulsions produced by the KD would affect anticonvulsant effects of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs), anticonvulsant potencies of carbamazepine (CBZ), phenobarbital (PB), phenytoin (PHT), and valproate (VPA) against maximal electroshock (MES)-induced convulsions were compared in mice fed the KD and SRCD. We found that potencies of all AEDs studied were decreased in mice fed the KD in comparison to those on the SRCD, with decreases in the anticonvulsant potencies ranging from 1.4 fold (PB) to 1.7 fold (PHT). Finally, the lack of differences in brain exposures of the AEDs studied in mice fed the KD and SRCD ruled out a pharmacokinetic nature of the observed findings. Taken together, exposure to the KD in the present study had an overall pro-convulsant effect. Since electroconvulsions require large metabolic reserves to support their rapid spread throughout the brain and consequent generalized tonic-clonic convulsions, this effect may be explained by a high energy state produced by the KD in regards to increased energy storage and utilization.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathophysiology, Medical University, Jaczewskiego 8, 20-090, Lublin, Poland. zarnowskai@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Iwona
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Zarnowska
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathophysiology, Medical University, Jaczewskiego 8, 20-090, Lublin, Poland.|Department of Physiopathology, Institute of Agricultural Medicine, Jaczewskiego 2, 20-950, Lublin, Poland.
authors.forename: Jarogniew J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Luszczki
authors.affiliation: Chair of Ophthalmology, Medical University, Chmielna 1, 20-079, Lublin, Poland.
authors.forename: Tomasz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zarnowski
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Physiology, Institute of Biology and Biochemisry, Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, Akademicka 19, 20-033, Lublin, Poland.
authors.forename: Piotr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wlaz
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathophysiology, Medical University, Jaczewskiego 8, 20-090, Lublin, Poland.|Department of Physiopathology, Institute of Agricultural Medicine, Jaczewskiego 2, 20-950, Lublin, Poland.
authors.forename: Stanislaw J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Czuczwar
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA. nextpharma@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Maciej
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gasior
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000494:pharmacology; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D055423:Diet, Ketogenic / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004597:Electroshock; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000187:drug effects; D012640:Seizures / Q000209:etiology*
chemical_list: D000927:Anticonvulsants
keywords: Antiepileptic drugs; Epilepsy; Ketogenic diet; Protection