Early Motor-Behavioral Outcome of Ischemic Stroke with Ketogenic Diet Preconditioning: Interventional Animal Study

Background: Cerebral stroke, with ischemic stroke being its most common type, is the leading cause of chronic disability. The ketogenic diet has been used for treating seizures for centuries and has been considered to be a treatment for other neurologic diseases in recent years. The goal of this study is to evaluate the effects of ketogenic diet preconditioning on the early motor-behavior outcome of rats with induced cerebral ischemic stroke. Methods: Twenty-four rats were surveyed in 3 groups of Main, Control, and Sham. The Main group received a ketogenic diet plus medium chain triglyceride oil starting 3 days prior to stroke induction, while the other 2 groups took a normal diet. Subsequently, Endothelin-1 was injected stereotactically near the middle cerebral artery to induce an ischemic stroke in the Main and Control group. Normal saline was injected to the members of the Sham group with the same technique. The motor-behavior functions of the rats were compared between 3 groups using adjusting step, beam, and cylinder tests. Results: After stroke induction, rats on ketogenic diet were able to adjust their steps more efficiently, moved faster on the beam, and used their hands more symmetrically in the transparent cylinder in relation to the rats in the Control group. Conclusion: It seems that ketogenic diet preconditioning improves the early motor-behavioral outcome of ischemic stroke.