Abstracts

Rationale: The ketogenic diet (KD) is a high-fat and low-carbohydrate diet used as a treatment of intractable epilepsy. Here, we study if polyunstaturated fatty acids may support the efficacy of the KD.Methods: We used three groups: a control group, a ketogenic diet group (KD) and a ketogenic diet group with mainly saturated fatty acids (KD-Sat group). We assess the anticonvulsant effect using intraveinous pentylentetrazol (PTZ) thresholds and we also assess the ketone bodies pathwaysResults: As previously observed, there is an increased PTZ thresholds (th.) in the KD group (48.2 2.6mg/kg myoclonic th.; 52.7 2.3mg/kg seizure th.) compared to the control group (38.3 2.7mg/kg myoclonic th.; 43 2.7mg/kg seizure th. p<0.05). We did not observe any difference between the KD group compared to the KD-Sat group (48.8 1.4mg/kg myoclonic th.; 52.6 1.7mg/kg seizure th.). The levels of -OH butyrate and acetoacetate were increased in both KD and KD-Sat groups compared to the control group. We did not find any linear correlation between the ketone bodies level and the PTZ threshold. The fatty acid serum profiles among the groups reflected the level of the intakes. Using quantitative RT-PCR in the brain and in the liver, we did not find any upregulation of PPAR and PPAR genes.Conclusions: Our data suggest that PUFA are not an essential component supporting the anticonvulsant efficacy of the KD. We are currently investigating the ketone bodies and the fatty acids pathways. The quantity of fat rather than the quality of fatty acids may be involved in the anticonvulsant properties of KD.