Could a ketogenic diet alleviate gout?
Recent work from the laboratory of Vishwa Deep Dixit, Professor of Comparative Medicine and Immunobiology, has shown that the ketone body β-hydroxybutyrate can specifically inhibit the NLRP3 inflammasome. Ketones are byproducts of fat break down in the liver that can serve as alternative metabolic fuels for the brain and heart during periods of low carbohydrate intake, such as fasting, or ketogenic diet. To test if elevating ketones protected against inflammation during gout, a Postdoctoral Fellow in Dixit's lab, Emily Goldberg, and Associate Research Scientist and Clinical Veterinarian in Comparative Medicine, Jennifer Asher, and their colleagues collaborated to develop a novel model of gout flares in rats. They found that feeding rats a high-fat, low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet increased β-hydroxybutyrate levels and protected rats from joint swelling, tissue damage, and systemic inflammation normally seen during gout. "In isolated neutrophils , β-hydroxybutyrate comp...