The effect of different patterns of intermittent fasting diet on the convulsive behaviors: the possible role of glutamic acid decarboxylase enhancement

Document Type : Original Research

Authors
S. E. Fathi 1
A. Nazari 2
F. Zavvari 3
Y. Katebi 2
F. Karimzadeh 2
1 1- Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran2- School of medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
2 Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
3 Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
Introduction: Intermittent fasting diet (IFD) has been known as a supplementary therapy for epilepsy. The main mechanisms involved in the anti-epileptic effect of IFD have not been well understood. This study has investigated the effect of IFD on hippocampal glutamic acid decarboxylase enzyme (GAD65) expression as a critical enzyme to fast modulation of GABA level.

Method: Male adult rats were divided into 4 groups of sham, seizure, fasting & seizure, and pre-seizure fasting. Seizures were induced by pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) injection every other day for 4 weeks. The protocol of IFD was alternate-day feeding (24 hours of access to food every 48). In the pre-seizure fasting group, rats were put on the alternate-day feeding schedule for weeks 1–8 and PTZ was injected every other day in weeks 5–8. Hippocampal level and distribution of GAD65 have evaluated using western blotting and immunofluorescence analysis respectively.

Result: Study findings revealed a significant reduction of seizure behavior scores in the pre-seizure fasting group on days 10, 16, 20, and 22. In the CA3 area, expression of GAD65 decreased in the seizure group compared to the sham group. In the CA1 area, expression of GAD65 increased significantly in both fasting groups compared to the seizure group. Moreover, the hippocampal protein level of GAD65 increased significantly in both fasting groups compared to the seizure group.

Conclusion: The IFD before seizure induction has more potential to modulate the development of seizure behaviors, compared to IFD simultaneously with seizure.

Keywords

Subjects

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Pathobiology Reserach
Volume 25, Issue 4
October 2022
Pages 6-12