178 - Ketogenic diet and social behavior in a mouse model of autism spectrum disorder

Impaired social interaction is one of three key diagnostic criteria for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Other criteria for ASD include repetitive behavior and impaired communication skills. This developmental condition is increasing within the United States, yet no cure is currently available. Ketogenic diet (KD) is a high fat, low carb diet proven to help many neurological issues in humans and reduce repetitive behavior in the mouse model. This study uses a FVB mouse model predisposed to developing stereotypical behaviors, specifically, repetitive circling to investigate the effects of KD on social and repetitive behavior. Subjects were old and young mice fed KD or standard chow, and estrous was monitored for subjects and stranger mice used to measure social behavior. Here, we hypothesized that KD intervention would increase social interaction and decrease repetitive behavior. We found that KD increased social behavior in the young, but not old, mice when compared to subjects fed a standard diet.