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Electroconvulsive Seizures in Rats and Fractionation of Their Hippocampi to Examine Seizure-induced Changes in Postsynaptic Density Proteins
Published on: August 15, 2017
A ketogenic diet has different effects upon seizures induced by maximal electroshock and by pentylenetetrazole
K J Bough1, P J Matthews, D A Eagles
1Department of Biology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20057-1229, USA.
Abstract:
The purpose of these experiments was to determine whether a ketogenic diet previously shown to elevate seizure threshold also reduced seizure severity. Seizure threshold was tested by intravenous infusion of pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) whereas seizure severity was determined from measuring the hindlimb extension to flexion (E/F) ratio after seizures were evoked by maximal electroshock stimulation (MES). Surprisingly, seizures evoked by MES were more severe in animals fed a calorie-restricted ketogenic diet. Controls fed an isocaloric, calorie-restricted normal diet also exhibited more severe seizures than did animals fed the same diet ad libitum. When seizure threshold was evaluated in the same animals, those animals fed a calorie-restricted ketogenic diet exhibited a significant increase in seizure resistance compared to animals fed a ketogenic diet ad libitum, a calorie-restricted normal diet or a normal diet ad libitum. These findings suggest that both the amount and type of food affect seizures in rats and show that diet-related seizure protection depends upon the method by which seizures are provoked.
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