Comparative research of the effect of routine and every other day ketogenic diet on neurobehavioral damages induced by recurrent seizures in neonatal rats

Objective To compare the effect of routine ketogenic diet and every other day ketogenic diet on neurobehavioral damage induced by recurrent seizures in neonatal rats. Methods 48 postnatal day 8 (P8) SD rats were randomly divided into four groups with 12 in each group: the control group(CONT), the recurrent seizure group(RS+ ND), recurrent seizure + routine ketogenic diet group(RS+ KD) and recurrent seizure+ every other day ketogenic diet group(RS+ KOD). The recurrent seizures model was induced by flurothyl at p9 and last for 8 days. After a day of fasting the postnatal 28 day rats were placed on either ordinary or ketogenic diet according to packet design. Plane righting experiment, cliff avoidance test and negative geotaxis test were used to assess the neurobehavioral performance at p35. Results (1) Plane righting experiment: the plane righting time of RS+ ND group ((0.17±0.39)s) was significantly shorter than that of NS+ ND group ((0.67±0.49)s) (P 0.05). (2) Cliff avoidance test: the cliff avoidance time of RS+ ND group ((12.58±4.83)s) was significantly longer than that of NS+ ND group ((1.92±0.90)s), RS+ KD group((3.33±1.50)s) and RS+ KOD group (P 0.05). Conclusion The ketogenic diet can improve neurobehavioral damage caused by flurothyl-induced recurrent seizures in neonatal rats. The every other day KD group shows a weak intervention effect comparing with the routine KD group. Key words: Neonatal; Seizures; Ketogenic diet; Neurobehavior