This Article Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 0883073809336295v1 24/10/1268    most recent References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Evangeliou, A. Articles by Nikolaidis, N. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Evangeliou, A. Articles by Nikolaidis, N. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Branched Chain Amino Acids as Adjunctive Therapy to Ketogenic Diet in Epilepsy: Pilot Study and Hypothesis

4th Paediatric Clinic, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Papageorgiou Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece, aeevange{at}auth.gr

Martha Spilioti, MD

Department of Neurology, University of Crete, Medical School, Heraklion, Crete, Greece

Vai Doulioglou, MD

4th Paediatric Clinic, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Papageorgiou Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece

Panagiota Kalaidopoulou, MD

4th Paediatric Clinic, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Papageorgiou Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece

Anestis Ilias, MD

2nd NICU, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Papageorgiou Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece

Astrinia Skarpalezou, RD

Institution of Child Health, Children's Hospital Agia Sofia, Athens, Greece

Irini Katsanika, RD

4th Paediatric Clinic, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Papageorgiou Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece

Serafia Kalamitsou, MD

4th Paediatric Clinic, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Papageorgiou Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece

Konstantina Vasilaki, MD

4th Paediatric Clinic, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Papageorgiou Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece

Ilias Chatziioanidis, MD

2nd NICU Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Papageorgiou Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece

Kiriakos Garganis, MD

Epilepsy Unit of Agios Loukas Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece

Evangelos Pavlou, MD

2nd Paediatric Clinic, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, AHEPA Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece

Sotirios Varlamis, MD

4th Paediatric Clinic, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Papageorgiou Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece

Nikolaos Nikolaidis, MD

2nd NICU Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Papageorgiou Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece

A pilot prospective follow-up study of the role of the branched chain amino acids as additional therapy to the ketogenic diet was carried out in 17 children, aged between 2 and 7 years, with refractory epilepsy. All of these patients were on the ketogenic diet; none of them was seizure free, while only 13 had more or less benefited from the diet. The addition of branched chain amino acids induced a 100% seizure reduction in 3 patients, while a 50% to 90% reduction was noticed in 5. Moreover, in all of the patients, no reduction in ketosis was recorded despite the change in the fat-to-protein ratio from 4:1 to 2.5:1. Although our data are preliminary, we suggest that branched chain amino acids may increase the effectiveness of the ketogenic diet and the diet could be more easily tolerated by the patients because of the change in the ratio of fat to protein.

Key Words: ketogenic diet • branched chain amino acids • intractable epilepsy

This version was published on October 1, 2009

Journal of Child Neurology, Vol. 24, No. 10, 1268-1272 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0883073809336295


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?