Effect of a Ketogenic Medium Chain Triglyceride-Enriched Diet on the Fecal Microbiota in Canine Idiopathic Epilepsy: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Ketogenic diets have been successfully used in people and dogs with idiopathic epilepsy. This study examined the effect of a ketogenic medium chain triglycerides (MCT)- enriched diet administered for one month on the fecal microbiota of epileptic (n = 11) (six with drug-sensitive epilepsy, DSE; five with drug-refractory epilepsy, DRE) and non-epileptic beagle dogs (n = 12). A significant reduction after diet in the relative abundance of bacteria from the Actinobacteria phylum was observed in all dogs. Epileptic dogs showed a higher relative abundance of Lactobacillus compared with non-epileptic dogs at baseline but these differences disappeared after diet. Epileptic dogs also showed a significantly higher abundance of Negativicutes and Selenomonadales after dietary intervention. Baseline microbiota patterns were similar in non-epileptic beagles and dogs with DSE but significantly different from dogs with DRE. In non-epileptic and DSE groups, the MCT diet decreased the relative abundance of Firmicutes and increased that of Bacteroidetes and Fusobacteria, but the opposite effect was observed in dogs with DRE. These results suggest that the MCT diet effect would depend on individual baseline microbiota patterns and that ketogenic diets could help reduce gut microbiota differences between dogs with DRE and DSE.