The protective effect of a ketogenic diet on kainic acid-induced hippocampal cell death in the male ICR mice.

Abstract

This study was designed to evaluate the antiapoptotic effects of a ketogenic diet (KD) through histological (cresyl violet staining, TUNEL staining and immunohistochemistry) and behavioral studies using kainic acid (KA, 25mg/kg i.p.)-induced seizures in male ICR mice. KA-induced seizure in rodents is widely used as an experimental model for human temporal lobe epilepsy because of their behavioral and pathological similarities. A KA-induced seizure causes neuronal damage in hippocampal pyramidal neurons and involves a caspase-3-mediated apoptotic pathway. In this study, the seizure onset time of the KD-fed group was delayed compared to that of the group fed a normal diet (ND) after a systemic KA injection. Histological studies revealed that KA caused pyknosis in most of the hippocampal areas in the ND-fed group, however, well-preserved pyramidal neurons were detected in the hippocampus of mice that had been on KD for 1 month, which began on postnatal day 21. The number of TUNEL-positive cells and caspase-3-positive cells in the hippocampus of the KD-fed group was lower than that of the ND-fed group. These findings indicate that KD has an antiepileptic effect via a neuroprotective action that involves the inhibition of caspase-3-mediated apoptosis of hippocampal neurons.

• Authors: Hae Sook Noh, Yoon Sook Kim, Hee Po Lee, Ki Myung Chung, Dong Wook Kim, Sang Soo Kang, Gyeong Jae Cho, Wan Sung Choi
• Journal: Epilepsy research (Epilepsy Res) Vol. 53 Issue 1-2 Pg. 119-28 (Feb 2003) ISSN: 0920-1211 [Print] Netherlands
• PMID: 12576173 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Fatty Acids, Unsaturated
• Ketone Bodies
• CASP3 protein, human
• Casp3 protein, mouse
• Caspase 3
• Caspases
• Kainic Acid

Topics

• Animals
• Behavior, Animal (drug effects)
• Caspase 3
• Caspases (biosynthesis)
• Cell Death (drug effects)
• Diet
• Fatty Acids, Unsaturated (pharmacology)
• Health
• Hippocampus (pathology)
• Immunohistochemistry
• In Situ Nick-End Labeling
• Kainic Acid (toxicity)
• Ketone Bodies (metabolism)
• Male
• Mice
• Mice, Inbred ICR
• Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
• Seizures (chemically induced, physiopathology)
• Weight Gain (drug effects)