Kynurenic Acid and Neuroprotective Activity of the Ketogenic Diet in the Eye

Title:Kynurenic Acid and Neuroprotective Activity of the Ketogenic Diet in the Eye

Volume: 24 Issue: 32

Author(s): Tomasz Zarnowski, Maria Tulidowicz-Bielak, Iwona Zarnowska, Krystyna Mitosek-Szewczyk, Artur Wnorowski, Krzysztof Jozwiak, Maciej Gasior and Waldemar A. Turski*

Affiliation:

• Department of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, Medical University, Jaczewskiego 8b, 20-090 Lublin,Poland

Keywords: Eye, ketogenic diet, kynurenic acid, kynurenine, neuroprotection, retina.

Abstract: Background: There is growing evidence of the involvement of the kynurenine metabolic pathway and the enhancement of kynurenic acid production in the neuroprotective effects of the ketogenic diet.

Objective: Here, we review evidence implicating kynurenic acid in the efficacy of ketogenic diet in eye diseases associated with neurodegeneration.

Findings: Ketogenic diet and ketone bodies that are elevated during exposure to the ketogenic diet each have a neuroprotective effect on retinal ganglion cells in a rat model of Nmethyl- D-aspartate induced neuronal damage. Chronic exposure to ketogenic diet also increases kynurenic acid concentrations in discrete rat brain structures. A non-selective glutamate receptor agonist, glutamate, also decreases the production of kynurenic acid in bovine retinal slices; this effect is attenuated by acetoacetate and β-hydroxybutyrate, two of three ketone bodies overproduced during ketogenic diet.

Perspective: Whether ketogenic diet induced enhancement of kynurenic acid production would translate into a clinically significant improvement in certain eye diseases like glaucoma and retinal neurodegenerations awaits further experimental and clinical verification.

Cite this article as:

Zarnowski Tomasz, Tulidowicz-Bielak Maria, Zarnowska Iwona, Mitosek-Szewczyk Krystyna, Wnorowski Artur, Jozwiak Krzysztof, Gasior Maciej and Turski A. Waldemar*, Kynurenic Acid and Neuroprotective Activity of the Ketogenic Diet in the Eye, Current Medicinal Chemistry 2017; 24 (32) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/0929867324666170509120257