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. 2022 Sep 16;50(5):135. doi: 10.3892/ijmm.2022.5191

Table III.

Summary table indicating the mitochondrial manifestations and the molecular targets that are affected during the ketogenic diet.

Ketogenic diet
Phenotype Tissue (host) Molecular target (Refs).
Biogenesis/function Cardiac muscle Sprague-Dawley rats Interscapular brown adipose tissue (IBAT) C57BL/6 mice ↥ Mitochondrial number
↥ Electron transport chain proteins UCP1 protein
↥ AMPK, PPAR-γ, PGC-1α proteins
(137)
Biogenesis Liver Wistar rats ↥ mRNA PPARGC1α and TFAM (139)
Biogenesis Skeletal muscle, liver, brain from Fisher Rats and mice - PGC-1α protein levels (124,126)
Biogenesis/dynamics Skeletal muscle C57BL/6 mice ↥ PGC-1α protein
↥ Mitochondrial fission/fusion related genes
(141)
Function Liver male C57BL/6 mice ↥ Mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation
de novo lipogenesis
(124)
Function Skeletal muscle C57BL/6 mice ↧ Mitochondrial activity (TFAM, SIRT1, SIRT3, PGC-1a) in younger animals
↥ Mitochondrial mass (level of OXPHOS) and function (citrate synthase activity) in elder animals
(125)
Function Liver and skeletal muscle Fisher rats ↥ Citrate synthase activity
↥ Mitochondrial volume
(126)
Function Skeletal muscle Sprague-Dawley rats ↥ Efficiency of coupling of complex II substrates (respiratory control ratio of isolated mitochondria) (123)
Function Liver C57Bl/6 mice ↧ Hepatic cytochrome c and complex IV levels (122)
Function Skeletal muscle Fisher rats ↧ citrate synthase activity (128)
Function/dynamics Cardiac muscle type-2 diabetic db/db mice ↧ Mitochondrial fission (mitochondrial number, size)
↥ PI3K, p-Akt, Akt, mitochondrial respiratory control ratio, ATP content
(134)
Function Myocardium tissue of male Sprague-Dawley rats ↧ HDAC2 leading to the transcriptional activation of SIRT7 (129)
Function Cybrid cell lines from a patient with Kearns-Sayre syndrome (KSS) ↥ Mitochondrial volume (130)
Function Brain and muscle tissue BTBR mice ↥ Mitochondrial morphological deformations (131)
Function Skeletal muscle from healthy human subjects ↥ Mitochondrial respiratory control ratio (mitochondrial O2 consumption and membrane potential index)
↥ ATP production
↥ ATP/H2O2 ratio
(132)
Function Skeletal muscle Fisher rats ↧ H2O2 emission
↥ Mitochondrial respiration
↥↥ Cell viability
(133)
Function Skeletal muscle Twinkledupl transgenic mice ↧ Amount of cytochrome c oxidase negative muscle fibers (136)
Function Liver male C57BL/6 mice ↥ mRNA expression PPARGC1α (140)
Dynamics Liver C57Bl/6 and BTBR mice ↧ Mitochondrial amount (decrease mtDNA)
↥ BNIP3 mRNA and protein
(143)
Dynamics Skeletal muscle C57BL/6 mice ↥ Markers mitochondrial content (citrate synthase, Complex I, and Complex IV activity) (127)
Dynamics Cardiomyocytes of rabbits with heart failure ↧ Mitofusin 2 (MFN2) and dynamin-related protein 1 (DRP1) (144)
Dynamics SH-SY-5Y cells ↧ Dynamin-related protein1 (DRP1) (145)
Mitophagy Hepatocytes of male and female Wistar rats ↧ Markers of de novo lipogenesis (FAS, ACC) (139)
Mitophagy Liver C57BL/6 and BTBR mice ↥ BNIP3 protein (143)

Upward arrows indicate an increase, and downward arrows indicate a decrease. UCP1, uncoupling protein 1; AMPK, AMP-activated protein kinase; PGC-1α, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator 1α; TFAM, mitochondrial transcription factor A; mtDNA, mitochondrial DNA; SIRT1, sirtuin 1; DRP1, dynamin-related protein 1.