What constitutes a relevant animal model of the ketogenic diet?

SummaryAnimal models of human disease have been enormously important in improving our understanding of the pathophysiological basis and the development of novel therapies. In epilepsy, modeling using both in vivo and in vitro preparations has provided insight into fundamental neuronal mechanisms. Indeed, much of our understanding of seizure mechanisms comes from animal studies. The conceptual advances in understanding basic mechanisms of epilepsies have been largely validated in humans, attesting to the validity of the rationale and providing a basis for bridging the gaps between experimental and human data. While the ketogenic diet is clearly efficacious in a wide variety of seizure types and syndromes, the mechanism of action of the diet has not been established. Animal models will continue to be enormously important in furthering our understanding of how dietary therapy can help individuals with epilepsy.