Low ketolytic enzyme levels in tumors predict ketogenic diet responses in cancer cell lines in vitro and in vivo

We investigated 3-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase 1 /2 and oxoacid CoA transferase 1 /2 expression in several cancer cell lines and tested this hypothesis with two representative cell lines that had low and high expression levels of these key ketone body catabolism enzymes in vivo and in vitro

Jie Zhang; Ping-Ping Jia; Qing-Le Liu; Ming-Hua Cong; Yun Gao; Han-Ping Shi; Wei-Nan Yu; Ming-Yong Miao

2018

Scholarcy highlights

  • The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, very-low-carbohydrate diet that triggers a fasting state by decreasing glucose and increasing ketone bodies, such as -hydroxybutyrate
  • Expression levels of 3-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase 1/2 and oxoacid CoA transferase 1/2 mRNAs in 33 cancer cell lines were determined by qRT-PCR
  • We investigated the relationship between the expression of the key ketolytic enzymes BDH1 and OXCT1 in tumors and their response to KD
  • We showed that xenograft tumors that derive from cancer cells with low expression levels of BDH1 and OXCT1 are more responsive to KD therapy, likely because they possess weaker ability to metabolize ketone bodies
  • Our results suggest that cancer cells with very low expression levels of BDH1 and OXCT1 may be sensitive to KD therapy
  • Overall, our results suggest that expression of the key ketolytic enzymes BDH1 and OXCT1 is one of the main factors that determine the effect of a KD on cancer
  • Further studies are necessary to determine whether other tumors derived from cancer cells with different expression levels of 3-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase 1 and oxoacid CoA transferase 1 exhibit similar sensitivity to ketogenic diet

Need more features? Save interactive summary cards to your Scholarcy Library.