Research finds that high fat or "ketogenic" diets could completely prevent, or even reverse heart failure caused by a metabolic process.
The research team looked at a metabolic process that seems to be turned down in failing human hearts. In an animal model, drastic heart failure in mice was bypassed by switching to high fat or "ketogenic" diets, which could completely prevent, or even reverse the heart failure.
"Thus, these studies suggest that consumption of higher fat and lower carbohydrate diets may be a nutritional therapeutic intervention to treat heart failure," the lead author said. The findings were published in Nature Metabolism.
The heart's myocardium requires vast amounts of chemical energy stored in nutrients to fuel cardiac contraction. To maintain this high metabolic capacity, the heart is flexible and can adapt to altered metabolic fuel supplies during diverse developmental, nutritional, or physiologic conditions. Impaired flexibility, however, is associated with cardiac dysfunction in conditions including diabetes and heart failure.
The mitochondrial pyruvate carrier (MPC) complex, composed of MPC1 and MPC2, is required for pyruvate import into the mitochondria. This study demonstrates that MPC expression is decreased in failing human and mouse hearts, and that genetic deletion of the MPC in mice leads to cardiac remodeling and dysfunction.
"Interestingly, this heart failure can be prevented or even reversed by providing a high-fat, low carbohydrate "ketogenic" diet," the lead said. "A 24-hour fast in mice, which is also "ketogenic" also provided significant improvement in heart remodeling."
Diets with higher fat content, but enough carbohydrates to limit ketosis also significantly improved heart failure in mice lacking cardiac MPC expression.
"Our study reveals a critical role for mitochondrial pyruvate utilization in cardiac function, and highlights the potential of dietary interventions to enhance cardiac fat metabolism to prevent or reverse cardiac dysfunction and remodeling in the setting of MPC-deficiency," the author said. Ongoing studies will seek to uncover the importance of ketone body versus fate metabolism in this process of improved cardiac remodeling.
Take-aways
-
Diets enriched with higher levels of fat but enough carbohydrate and protein to limit ketosis were also able to significantly improve or even prevent cardiac remodeling and dysfunction in a mouse model.
-
These studies suggest that consumption of higher fat and lower carbohydrate diets may be a nutritional therapeutic intervention to treat heart failure.
-
Like ketogenic diet, prolonged fasting increases the cardiac reliance on fatty acid oxidation and reduces ketolytic flux despite increased cardiac ketone body delivery. The 24-hour fast reduced blood glucose levels, and strongly enhanced plasma concentrations of non-esterified fatty acids and ketone bodies.
-
Ketogenic diet consumption for only three weeks and the concordant increase in fat metabolism was associated with reverse remodeling of the failing hearts to essentially normal size.
-
These results suggest that ketogenic diets do not enhance cardiac ketone body metabolism, but rather stimulates fatty acid oxidation, which may be responsible for the improved cardiac remodeling and performance.
https://www.slu.edu/news/2020/october/ketogenic-diets-heart-failure.php
https://www.nature.com/articles/s42255-020-00296-1
http://sciencemission.com/site/index.php?page=news&type=view&id=publications%2Fketogenic-diet-prevents&filter=22
Latest News
Circadian rhythms can influ…
By newseditor
Posted 27 Apr
With hybrid brains, these m…
By newseditor
Posted 27 Apr
Blocking activation of NF-κ…
By newseditor
Posted 27 Apr
Vitamin D regulates microbi…
By newseditor
Posted 27 Apr
Role of alternative splicin…
By newseditor
Posted 27 Apr
Other Top Stories
Regulation of plant immunity
Read more
Calcium link in plant immunity
Read more
Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) control epigenetic gene regulation
Read more
Heart chambers from stem cells
Read more
Stem cells provide lasting pain relief in mice
Read more
Protocols
A programmable targeted pro…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Apr
MemPrep, a new technology f…
By newseditor
Posted 08 Apr
A tangible method to assess…
By newseditor
Posted 08 Apr
Stem cell-derived vessels-o…
By newseditor
Posted 06 Apr
Single-cell biclustering fo…
By newseditor
Posted 01 Apr
Publications
Single dose creatine improv…
By newseditor
Posted 27 Apr
Autonomous circadian rhythm…
By newseditor
Posted 27 Apr
Functional sensory circuits…
By newseditor
Posted 27 Apr
Positive selection CRISPR s…
By newseditor
Posted 27 Apr
Focal clusters of peri-syna…
By newseditor
Posted 27 Apr
Presentations
Hydrogels in Drug Delivery
By newseditor
Posted 12 Apr
Lipids
By newseditor
Posted 31 Dec
Cell biology of carbohydrat…
By newseditor
Posted 29 Nov
RNA interference (RNAi)
By newseditor
Posted 23 Oct
RNA structure and functions
By newseditor
Posted 19 Oct
Posters
A chemical biology/modular…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Aug
Single-molecule covalent ma…
By newseditor
Posted 04 Jul
ASCO-2020-HEALTH SERVICES R…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-HEAD AND NECK CANCER
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-GENITOURINARY CAN…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar