Objective: The ketogenic diet is a dietary therapy that sustainably increases blood ketone levels by ingesting a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet. The ketogenic diet is known to be effective in suppressing epileptic seizures in children, and in Japan it is recognized as a therapeutic diet called a "diet for epilepsy." However, there are many unknowns about the effects of the ketogenic diet on skeletal growth in children, and in this study, we analyzed the effects of ketone bodies on chondrocyte proliferation.
Materials and Methods: The chondrocyte cell line ATDC5 cells were seeded in a 96-well plate and cultured in DMEM Ham's F12 medium containing 2.5% FBS. Acetoacetate and β-hydroxybutyrate, which are ketone bodies produced in the human body, were added to the culture system, and the absorbance was measured using the MTS method 24 hours later.
Results: When acetoacetate was added to ATDC5 cells, the MTS absorbance decreased in a concentration-dependent manner at concentrations of 5 mM or more. On the other hand, the absorbance did not decrease even when β-hydroxybutyrate was added up to 10 mM.
Discussion: It was suggested that among the ketone bodies produced in the human body by the ketogenic diet, acetoacetate may inhibit chondrocyte proliferation, whereas β-hydroxybutyrate may not.