Pain & Central Nervous System Week via NewsEdge :

2008 SEP 8 - (NewsRx.com) -- Researchers detail in 'Ketogenic diet prevents cardiac arrest-induced cerebral ischemic neurodegeneration,' new data in heart attack (see also Heart Attack Animal Studies). "Ketogenic diet (KD) is an effective treatment for intractable epilepsies. We recently found that KD can prevent seizure and myoclonic jerk in a rat model of post-hypoxic myoclonus," scientists in the United States report.

"In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that KD can prevent the cerebral ischemic neurodegeneration in this animal model. Rats fed a standard diet or KD for 25 days were being subjected to mechanically induced cardiac arrest brain ischemia for 8 min 30 s. Nine days after cardiac arrest, frozen rat brains were sectioned for evaluation of ischemia-induced neurodegeneration using fluoro-jade (FJ) staining. The FJ positive degenerating neurons were counted manually. Cardiac arrest-induced cerebral ischemia in rats fed the standard diet exhibited extensive neurodegeneration in the CA1 region of the hippocampus, the number of FJ positive neurons was 822±80 (n=4). They also showed signs of neurodegeneration in the Purkinje cells of the cerebellum and in the thalamic reticular nucleus, the number of FJ positive neurons in the cerebellum was 55±27 (n=4), the number of FJ positive neurons in the thalamic reticular nucleus was 22±5 (n=4). In contrast, rats fed KD showed no evidence of neurodegeneration, the number of FJ positive neurons in these areas were zero," wrote K.K. Tai and colleagues, Long Beach Memorial Medical Center.

The researchers concluded: "The results demonstrate that KD can prevent cardiac arrest-induced cerebral ischemic neurodegeneration in selected brain regions."

Tai and colleagues published their study in the Journal of Neural Transmission (Ketogenic diet prevents cardiac arrest-induced cerebral ischemic neurodegeneration. Journal of Neural Transmission, 2008;115(7):1011-7).

For more information, contact K.K. Tai, The Parkinson's and Movement Disorder Research Laboratory, Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, 2625 Pasadena Avenue, Long Beach, CA USA..

Publisher contact information for the Journal of Neural Transmission is: Springer Wien, Sachsenplatz 4-6, PO Box 89, A-1201 Vienna, Austria.

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