Feeding a Low-Carb High-Fat Diet to Dementia-Affected Mice Delays Memory Decline

US Researchers Confirm Increased Synaptic Plasticity...
Enhancing Neuronal Connections Improves Memory Issues

The ketogenic diet (Keto diet), a 'low-carbohydrate, high-fat' diet, has been found to delay early memory decline occurring at the mild cognitive impairment (MCI) stage in an Alzheimer's disease mouse model.

[Image source=Pixabay]

On the 20th, a research team led by Professor Gino Cortopassi from the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) in the United States reported in the Nature group journal Communications Biology that they confirmed this fact through a comparative experiment feeding Alzheimer's disease mouse models either a keto diet or a regular diet for seven months.

The keto diet consists of 'low carbohydrates, high fat, and moderate protein.' When following this diet, the body's primary energy source shifts from glucose to fat, producing ketones (acidic compounds generated during the process of using fat as an energy source). Originally, this diet was developed in the 1920s to suppress epileptic seizures and is still used today for treating recurrent seizures in adolescents.

In previous research, the team discovered that mice on a keto diet lived 13% longer. In this study, they conducted an experiment feeding Alzheimer's disease mouse models either a keto diet or a regular diet for seven months. Notably, this study focused on the effects of the keto diet on synapses, the sites where brain nerve cells connect. The experimental results showed that mice fed the keto diet exhibited changes in the structure and function of synapses, leading to increased synaptic plasticity?a characteristic that enables involvement in various brain functions. Synaptic plasticity is known to play an important role in memory formation and learning.

The level of 'beta-amyloid' (Aβ), a substance known to cause dementia, did not change in the hippocampus of mice on the keto diet. However, the blood ketone marker 'beta-hydroxybutyrate' (BHB) increased sevenfold. Co-corresponding author Professor Izumi Maezawa stated, "We observed the remarkable ability of BHB to improve synaptic function, which connects all nerve cells in the brain," adding, "When nerve cells connect better, memory problems in mild cognitive impairment improve." Professor Cortopassi explained, "This means that BHB plays a central role in preventing early memory decline," and added, "These results support the idea that the keto diet, especially BHB, can delay mild cognitive impairment and slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease."

The research team noted that the mouse model corresponds to mild cognitive impairment in humans with Alzheimer's disease and suggested that the keto diet and BHB, both approved dietary therapies and nutritional supplements, might have therapeutic relevance for MCI-stage Alzheimer's disease. In particular, the researchers reported that the keto diet increased biochemical pathways related to memory formation in mice and was more effective in females than males. They added that if these results apply to humans, it could have significant implications for women, especially those carrying the ApoE4 gene variant, which increases the risk of dementia.