Figure 7.

Ketogenic diet reduces cortical mTORC1 activity, delays epilepsy onset, and improves survival. (A) Seizure onset curves of Tsc1‐Cre⁺ mice treated with the ketogenic diet (Cre+/KD) or standard diet (Cre+/SD). The KD‐fed mice were on the diet for 6 weeks before gene deletion. Seizure onset is significantly delayed in Cre+/KD mice. (B) Survival curve of the Cre+/KD and Cre+/SD mice. (C) Each line represents the average number of seizures per mouse with the squares indicating the day of onset and the triangles the day of death. (E and F) Western blot analysis of hippocampal and cortical tissue of an independent group of mice sacrificed on day 13. Significantly lower levels of cortical pS6^Ser240/244) in the Cre+/KD mice are found. Seizure onset and survival were analyzed with a Kapler–Meier Log Rank test. Seizure frequency was compared with an unpaired t‐test. Western blot data is presented as means with error bars representing SEM. Sample sizes are indicated in the figures with n the number of mice used. Blots shown are representative but in some cases the order of the samples was adjusted to allow alignment with the corresponding bar. A one‐way ANOVA was used for statistical analysis with a Dunnett’s test as post hoc test. Cre+/SD mice were used as control group. *P < 0.05, ****P < 0.0001.