Exogenous Ketone Supplementation for Central Nervous System

As associate professor at the University of South Florida, Dominic D’Agostino has research experience spanning, muscle function, ketone supplementation, and ketone ester technologies. One focus for Dominic D’Agostino is on the use of dietary and supplemental ketosis for the management of pain and inflammatory conditions.

Ketone bodies such as beta-hydroxybutyrate (βHB) serve as an energy source for various tissues within the body. At the same time, they represent a powerful source of signaling molecules for the central nervous system. One way of boosting and sustaining the presence of ketone bodies in the blood is by taking exogenous ketones, including ketone esters or ketone salts.

One of the uses of exogenous ketones is for addressing central nervous system diseases associated with seizures and neurodegeneration. Ketone supplements help by increasing blood ketone levels, without the need for changes in a macronutrient ratios or nutritional restriction in general. The applications here are broad. Clinical evidence demonstrates that exogenous ketones may be employed therapeutically for a range of mental health and anxiety conditions, as well as neurodegenerative diseases and seizure disorders. Exogenous ketone-induced ketosis may have an additional effect of attenuating neuroinflammation and other inflammatory processes.

One area of ongoing research centers on exogenous ketones’ mechanisms of action, which remain largely unmapped. With a better understanding of the neuroprotective role of ketone-related molecules such as adenosine, physicians can better target exogenous ketone supplementation and KetoNutrition to address specific diseases such as epilepsy.

For more information, please visit KetoNutrition.org.