Nutrients. 2025 Dec 21;18(1):31. doi: 10.3390/nu18010031.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The over 100-year-old practice of using ketogenic diet (KD) in the treatment of epilepsy has consolidated its position as an effective therapeutic tool. The available publications suggest a significant influence of KD on gut microbiome and metabolome and, on the other hand, a correlation between microbiome and metabolome changes and the course of epilepsy. The conclusion is therefore justified that KD can exert a therapeutic effect in epilepsy through the mechanism of gut microbiome and metabolome modulation.

METHODS: This article is a narrative review aimed at a comprehensive analysis of the literature to gather existing evidence on the relationship between ketogenic diet, its antiepileptic effects and modulation of gut microbiome and metabolome.

RESULTS: It has been demonstrated that a ketogenic diet exerts a significant effect on intestinal bacteria and their metabolites, among other actions, increasing the Bacteroides to Firmicutes (B/F) ratio, alleviating dysbiosis, reducing the inflammatory condition in the gut and whole body, increasing the number of specific strains associated with antiepileptic effect, mediating the production of neurotransmitters (GABA, serotonin), exerting influence on the dopaminergic system, on a number of metabolic pathways, on inhibition of genotoxicity and production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) in the intestine.

CONCLUSIONS: Further studies are needed, since the effect of KD on gut microbiome and metabolome modulation in the treatment of epilepsy is an extremely promising and trendsetting direction of research.

PMID:41515148 | PMC:PMC12787722 | DOI:10.3390/nu18010031

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