Study ketone bodies protect the brain

How nutrition can save brain tissue from ruin

05/23/2014

That so-called ketone bodies protect the brain tissue, is already known in the art. However, researchers have not yet been able to decipher which mechanisms underlie this protective function. Scientists from the Institute for Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology of the University of Lübeck and the University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein have now succeeded in gaining initial insights into the mechanism of action of the ketone bodies. Thus, a particular diet can have a positive effect on the brain.

Fat is converted into ketone bodies
When the body is starving, fats are converted into so-called ketone bodies in the liver, which are supposed to protect the brain. Therefore, patients with neurological diseases such as epilepsy are advised to keep a ketogenic diet. The diet consists mainly of fats, on carbohydrates and proteins should be largely dispensed with. Through this diet, the body is placed in that state of hunger, which initiates the fat burning or conversion. The fat comes either from the body's own depots or the high-fat food.

During the ketogenic diet, too „low carb“- Diets like Atkinson, which has been used in epilepsy patients for decades, are currently undergoing trials in the treatment of Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases. So far, however, it was not known how the ketone bodies protect the brain. A research group led by Professor Markus Schwaninger, Director of the Institute for Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology in Lübeck, Germany, was able to decipher the mechanism of action of the converted fatty acids in cooperation with the University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein.

Ketone bodies activate protective function in the brain
According to the researchers, the ketogenic diet and ketone bodies affect inflammatory cells, called monocytes and macrophages, in the brain. These inflammatory cells are associated with the development of neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's or stroke, as they are associated with the death of nerve cells in the brain. The ketone bodies bind to the receptor HCA2, which is located on the inflammatory cells „Ketone bodies instruct HCA2 inflammatory cells to protect the brain“, explains Schwaninger.

A major disadvantage of the ketogenic diet is its high fat content, which most patients find uncomfortable. The Lübeck researchers could provide for these patients „ketogenic diet in tablet form“ have found. In their research, they came across nicotinic acid, which like the ketone bodies by HCA2 has a protective effect on the brain. Nicotinic acid has been used mainly to lower high cholesterol levels. In addition, nicotinic acid was used in acute stroke in the 1950s, as the physicians then assumed that the drug causes vasodilatation in the brain. Later, however, it turned out that this effect only applies to the skin. „Although nicotinic acid does not increase the blood flow to the brain, it does have an effect on stroke and possibly other neurological disorders as well“, so Schwaninger. Further investigations of Lübeck showed how the activation of HCA2 protects the brain tissue. „We suspect that anti-inflammatory factors are formed, but the exact identification of these factors is still pending.“

In the future, the researchers want to test other substances that dock to HCA2 and contribute to the protection of the brain. An effective substance with fewer side effects should be found. In view of an increasing number of patients with stroke or Alzheimer's, are urgent „new therapeutic approaches“ necessary, it says in a message from the university. (Ag)