The Anticonvulsant Effects of Ketogenic Diet on Epileptic Seizures and Potential Mechanisms

Epilepsy is a syndrome of brain dysfunction induced by the aberrant excitability of certain neurons. Despite advances in surgical technique and anti-epileptic drug in recent years, recurrent epileptic seizures remain intractable and lead to a serious morbidity in the world. The ketogenic diet refers to a high-fat, low-carbohydrate and adequate-protein diet. Currently, its beneficial effects on epileptic seizure reduction have been well established. However, the detailed mechanisms underlying the anti-epileptic effects of ketogenic diet are still poorly understood. In this article, the possible roles of ketogenic diet on epilepsy were discussed.

Data was obtained from the websites including Web of Science, Medline, Pubmed, Scopus, based on these keywords: "Ketogenic diet" and "epilepsy".

As shown in both clinical and basic studies, the therapeutic effects of ketogenic diet might involve neuronal metabolism, neurotransmitter function, neuronal membrane potential and neuron protection against ROS.

In this review, we systematically reviewed the effects and possible mechanisms of ketogenic diet on epilepsy, which may optimize the therapeutic strategies against epilepsy.