Schrickel Alexa, Groeneweg Jop, Dekeyster Eline
Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Wassenaarseweg 52, Leiden, 2333 AK, The Netherlands.
Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, Delft University of Technology, Jaffalaan 5, Delft, 2628 BX, The Netherlands.
Metab Brain Dis. 2025 Jan 8;40(1):94. doi: 10.1007/s11011-024-01518-1.
Current treatment approaches for Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) primarily focus on symptom management rather than addressing underlying dysfunctions. The ketogenic diet (KD), a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet inducing nutritional ketosis, has shown promise in treating epilepsy and may offer therapeutic benefits for ASD by modulating metabolic and neuroprotective pathways. This review examined the potential impact of KD on underlying mechanisms in ASD. While evidence from human studies on underlying mechanisms is limited, animal research has shown a large overlap of mechanisms modulated by KD and dysfunctions in ASD. As such, targeting multiple disrupted pathways at once, KD presents a potential multifaceted treatment approach for ASD. However, more evidence from human studies is needed on the effectiveness of KD in the modulation of underlying dysfunctions in ASD. Additionally, precision medicine approaches could help identify individuals who would benefit most from the intervention, potentially extending its use to other psychiatric conditions with similar metabolic patterns. Consequently, KD interventions might show the potential to induce a drastic paradigm shift in understanding and treating ASD.
目前自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）的治疗方法主要集中在症状管理上，而非解决潜在的功能障碍。生酮饮食（KD）是一种高脂肪、低碳水化合物的饮食，可诱导营养性酮症，已显示出治疗癫痫的前景，并且可能通过调节代谢和神经保护途径为自闭症谱系障碍提供治疗益处。本综述研究了生酮饮食对自闭症谱系障碍潜在机制的影响。虽然关于潜在机制的人体研究证据有限，但动物研究表明，生酮饮食调节的机制与自闭症谱系障碍中的功能障碍有很大重叠。因此，生酮饮食可同时针对多个紊乱途径，为自闭症谱系障碍提供一种潜在的多方面治疗方法。然而，还需要更多人体研究证据来证明生酮饮食对调节自闭症谱系障碍潜在功能障碍的有效性。此外，精准医学方法有助于识别最能从该干预措施中获益的个体，可能将其应用扩展到具有相似代谢模式的其他精神疾病。因此，生酮饮食干预可能显示出在理解和治疗自闭症谱系障碍方面引发重大范式转变的潜力。
