Ketogenic Diet's Surprising Impact On Opioid Sensitivity And Withdrawal
Ketogenic Diet's Surprising Impact On Opioid Sensitivity And Withdrawal
In a recent study published in the journal Scientific Reports, researchers at Yale University School of Medicine evaluated the potential effects of a ketogenic diet (KD) on oxycodone responses in a mouse model.
Ketogenic Diet's Surprising Impact On Opioid Sensitivity And Withdrawal
Study: Ketogenic diet enhances the effects of oxycodone in mice. Image Credit: nadianb / Shutterstock
Ketogenic Diet's Surprising Impact On Opioid Sensitivity And Withdrawal
Background
Oxycodone is a prescription opioid that caused an opioid epidemic in the United States (US) involving more than two million individuals with substance use disorder. Of all patients prescribed opioids, 25% misused them, and five to 10 percent subsequently developed opioid use disorder (OUD). Opioid overuse increased by 519% between 1999 and 2019, and oxycodone overdose contributed to 32% of overdose deaths.
Ketogenic Diet's Surprising Impact On Opioid Sensitivity And Withdrawal
The challenge is to maximize the therapeutic potential of prescription opioids, including oxycodone, while minimizing their adverse effects. While KD is recognized to reduce the pain and severity of OUDs, its effect(s) on oxycodone responses remains unknown.
Ketogenic Diet's Surprising Impact On Opioid Sensitivity And Withdrawal
Nutritional deficiencies due to poor diet in the OUD population hinder patient recovery; thus, nutritional interventions or dietary manipulation could improve patient outcomes and dramatically reduce healthcare costs.
Ketogenic Diet's Surprising Impact On Opioid Sensitivity And Withdrawal
About the study
In the present study, researchers used male and female C57BL/6 J mice aged between eight and 15 weeks to examine the sex-based effects of KD on responses to opioids, specifically oxycodone. They created separate mice cohorts for self-administration and osmotic minipump experiments. For self-administration experiments, the team used only one concentration of oxycodone in progressive ratio paradigms but used it in sterile saline for osmotic minipump loading.
Ketogenic Diet's Surprising Impact On Opioid Sensitivity And Withdrawal
The team maintained all mice on either KD AIN-76A Modified diet or Standard chow, which helped them accomplish matching body weight changes for pair-fed mice and 85 to 90% of the initial body weight for self-administration studies. In other words, they generated a Pair-fed Chow group matching the KD group’s bodyweight loss in male mice. Furthermore, they maintained this matching through all three phases of this study, dietary intervention, locomotor activity, and hot plate…