ArticlePhysiology & behavior2017
Ketogenic diets improve behaviors associated with autism spectrum disorder in a sex-specific manner in the EL mouse.
Article in Physiology & behavior, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 43 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
43 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 78 citations in OpenAlex.
- Are therapeutic diets an emerging additional choice in autism spectrum disorder management?World journal of pediatrics : WJP · 2018Pooled it
- Ketone ester supplementation protects from experimental colitis via improved goblet cell differentiation and function.European journal of nutrition · 2025Article
- The Association Between Autism Spectrum Disorders and Dietary Intake of Carbohydrates in School-Aged Children in Iran: A Case-Control Study.Neuropsychopharmacology reports · 2025Article
- Ketogenic diet, adenosine, and dopamine in addiction and psychiatry.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Review
- Brain-gut-brain axis, nutrition, and autism spectrum disorders: a review.Translational pediatrics · 2024Review
- Adult Inception of Ketogenic Diet Therapy Increases Sleep during the Dark Cycle in C57BL/6J Wild Type and Fragile X Mice.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- Autism spectrum disorders and the gastrointestinal tract: insights into mechanisms and clinical relevance.Nature reviews. Gastroenterology & hepatology · 2024Review
- Review
- Therapeutic ketogenic diet as treatment for anorexia nervosa.Frontiers in nutrition · 2024Review
- Ketogenic diet and behavior: insights from experimental studies.Frontiers in nutrition · 2024Review
- Exogenous ketone bodies and the ketogenic diet as a treatment option for neurodevelopmental disorders.Frontiers in nutrition · 2024Review
- Ketogenic Diet Affects Sleep Architecture in C57BL/6J Wild Type and Fragile X Mice.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- Ketogenic diet for mood disorders from animal models to clinical application.Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2023Review
- Ketogenic diet protects MPTP-induced mouse model of Parkinson's disease via altering gut microbiota and metabolites.MedComm · 2023Article
- Interconnection between Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis and Autism Spectrum Disorder Comparing Therapeutic Options: A Scoping Review.Microorganisms · 2023Article
- Spontaneous seizures in adult Fmr1 knockout mice: FVB.129P2-Pde6bEpilepsy research · 2022Article
- Diet in treatment of autism spectrum disorders.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2022Review
- Alterations in the gut microbiota contribute to cognitive impairment induced by the ketogenic diet and hypoxia.Cell host & microbe · 2021Article
- Ketogenic Dietary Therapies in Patients with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Facts or Fads? A Scoping Review and a Proposal for a Shared Protocol.Nutrients · 2021Article
- Cerebellar and multi-system metabolic reprogramming associated with trauma exposure and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)-like behavior in mice.Neurobiology of stress · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
The core symptoms of autism spectrum disorder are poorly treated with current medications. Symptoms of autism spectrum disorder are frequently comorbid with a diagnosis of epilepsy and vice versa. Medically-supervised ketogenic diets are remarkably effective nonpharmacological treatments for epilepsy, even in drug-refractory cases. There is accumulating evidence that supports the efficacy of ketogenic diets in treating the core symptoms of autism spectrum disorders in animal models as well as limited reports of benefits in patients. This study tests the behavioral effects of ketogenic diet feeding in the EL mouse, a model with behavioral characteristics of autism spectrum disorder and comorbid epilepsy. Male and female EL mice were fed control diet or one of two ketogenic diet formulas ad libitum starting at 5weeks of age. Beginning at 8weeks of age, diet protocols continued and performance of each group on tests of sociability and repetitive behavior was assessed. A ketogenic diet improved behavioral characteristics of autism spectrum disorder in a sex- and test-specific manner; ketogenic diet never worsened relevant behaviors. Ketogenic diet feeding improved multiple measures of sociability and reduced repetitive behavior in female mice, with limited effects in males. Additional experiments in female mice showed that a less strict, more clinically-relevant diet formula was equally effective in improving sociability and reducing repetitive behavior. Taken together these results add to the growing number of studies suggesting that ketogenic and related diets may provide significant relief from the core symptoms of autism spectrum disorder, and suggest that in some cases there may be increased efficacy in females.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.