The contribution of norepinephrine and orexigenic neuropeptides to the anticonvulsant effect of the ketogenic diet.

The ketogenic diet (KD) is a high-fat, low-carbohydrate, low-protein diet used to treat refractory epilepsy. Despite its efficacy and many years of investigation, the mechanism by which the KD exerts its anticonvulsant effect remains controversial and poorly understood. The purpose of this article is to review the available data considering two classes of molecules that may contribute to the anticonvulsant effect of the KD: norepinephrine and the orexigenic neuropeptides galanin and neuropeptide Y.