Ketogenic Diet, but Not Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Diet, Reduces Spontaneous Seizures in Juvenile Rats with Kainic Acid-induced Epilepsy

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The high-fat, low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet (KD) is effective in many cases of drug-resistant epilepsy, particularly in children. In the classic KD, fats consist primarily of long-chain saturated triglycerides. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), especially the n-3 type, decrease neuronal excitability and provide neuroprotection; pilot human studies have raised the possibility of using PUFAs to control seizures in patients. METHODS: To determine the relative roles of the KD and PUFAs in an animal model, we induced epilepsy in juvenile rats (P29-35) using intraperitoneal kainic acid (KA). KA caused status epilepticus in all rats. Two days after KA, rats were randomized to one of 4 dietary groups: Control diet; PUFA diet; KD; or KD plus PUFA. All diets were administered isocalorically at 90% of the rat recommended daily calorie requirement. Spontaneous recurrent seizures (SRS) were assessed for 3 months after diet randomization. RESULTS: Rats receiving the KD or KD-PUFA diet had significantly fewer SRS than those receiving the Control diet or PUFA diet. The PUFA diet did not reduce SRS compared to the Control diet. CONCLUSIONS: In the KA epilepsy model, the KD protects against SRS occurrence but dietary enhancement with PUFA does not afford additional protection against spontaneous seizures.