Changes in tryptophan and kynurenine pathway metabolites in the blood of children treated with ketogenic diet for refractory epilepsy

A high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet, also called the ketogenic diet (KD), was introduced into clinical practice as an alternative method to treat epilepsy, based on observations that fasting and starvation rendered an anti-seizure effect in epileptic patients [1]. Since then, the classic KD and its later modifications (i.e. the modified Atkins diet (MAD) and low glycemic index treatment have been used to manage patients with intractable epilepsy. Of note, the term KD currently refers to any dietary therapy which would be expected to result in a ketogenic state of human metabolism [2,3].

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