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.