ArticleNeuropharmacology2013
Seizure control by ketogenic diet-associated medium chain fatty acids.
Article in Neuropharmacology, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 65 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
65 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 140 citations in OpenAlex.
- AMPA Receptor Modulation Through Medium-Chain Triglycerides and Decanoic Acid Supports Nutritional Intervention in Pediatric Epilepsy.Nutrients · 2025Pooled it
- Trial
- Trial
- A randomised trial of a medium-chain TAG diet as treatment for dogs with idiopathic epilepsy.The British journal of nutrition · 2015Trial
- Neuroimmunomodulation of AMPA Receptors Through Combination of Medium-Chain Triglycerides and Perampanel to Treat Status Epilepticus in Anti-NMDA Receptor Encephalitis.Journal of neuroimmune pharmacology : the official journal of the Society on NeuroImmune Pharmacology · 2026Article
- Decanoic acid extends lifespan and modulates metabolism in models of PLA2G6-associated neurodegeneration.Disease models & mechanisms · 2025Article
- Article
- Biosystematic, Essential Oil, and Biological Activity Studies on Medicinal PlantPlants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Decanoic acid-enriched ketogenic diet in refractory epilepsy.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Article
- Article
- Pharmacological inhibition of ENT1 enhances the impact of specific dietary fats on energy metabolism gene expression.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Relationship between Dietary Decanoic Acid and Coronary Artery Disease: A Population-Based Cross-Sectional Study.Nutrients · 2023Article
- Medium-Chain Fatty Acids Rescue Motor Function and Neuromuscular Junction Degeneration in aCells · 2023Article
- Integrating metabolomics and lipidomics revealed a decrease in plasma fatty acids but an increase in triglycerides in children with drug-refractory epilepsy.Epilepsia open · 2023Article
- Ketogenic therapy in childhood and adolescence: recommendations of the Brazilian experts group.Arquivos de neuro-psiquiatria · 2023Article
- Anticonvulsant Profile of Selected Medium-Chain Fatty Acids (MCFAs) Co-Administered with Metformin in Mice in Acute and Chronic Treatment.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Review
- Structural basis of AMPA receptor inhibition by trans-4-butylcyclohexane carboxylic acid.British journal of pharmacology · 2022Article
- Review
- Activation of G protein-coupled receptors by ketone bodies: Clinical implication of the ketogenic diet in metabolic disorders.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2022Review
5 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
The medium chain triglyceride (MCT) ketogenic diet is used extensively for treating refractory childhood epilepsy. This diet increases the plasma levels of medium straight chain fatty acids. A role for these and related fatty acids in seizure control has not been established. We compared the potency of an established epilepsy treatment, Valproate (VPA), with a range of MCT diet-associated fatty acids (and related branched compounds), using in vitro seizure and in vivo epilepsy models, and assessed side effect potential in vitro for one aspect of teratogenicity, for liver toxicology and in vivo for sedation, and for a neuroprotective effect. We identify specific medium chain fatty acids (both prescribed in the MCT diet, and related compounds branched on the fourth carbon) that provide significantly enhanced in vitro seizure control compared to VPA. The activity of these compounds on seizure control is independent of histone deacetylase inhibitory activity (associated with the teratogenicity of VPA), and does not correlate with liver cell toxicity. In vivo, these compounds were more potent in epilepsy control (perforant pathway stimulation induced status epilepticus), showed less sedation and enhanced neuroprotection compared to VPA. Our data therefore implicates medium chain fatty acids in the mechanism of the MCT ketogenic diet, and highlights a related new family of compounds that are more potent than VPA in seizure control with a reduced potential for side effects. This article is part of the Special Issue entitled 'New Targets and Approaches to the Treatment of Epilepsy'.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.