Gut bacteria play critical role in anti-seizure effects of ketogenic diet, UCLA scientists report

This study inspires us to study whether similar roles for gut microbes are seen in people that are on the ketogenic diet,” Vuong said.“The implications for health and disease are promising, but much more research needs to be done to test whether discoveries in mice also apply to humans,” said Hsiao, who is also an assistant professor of medicine in theDavid Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.On behalf of the Regents of the University of California, the UCLA Technology Development Group has filed a patent on Hsiao ’s technology that mimics the ketogenic diet to provide seizure protection. It has exclusively licensed it to a startup company Hsiao has helped to launch that will examine the potential clinical applications of her laboratory’s findings.Other co-authors of the study are Jessica Yano, a former UCLA staff research associate; Qingxing Liang, a UCLA undergraduate student; and David Nusbaum, a former UCLA staff research associate.The research is supported by funding from the UCLA department of integrative biology and physiology and division of life sciences; Alfred P. Sloan Foundation; Edward Mallinckrodt Jr. Foundation; and Army Research Office of the U.S. Department of Defense.
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news