Background: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a chronic gastrointestinal disorder. Psychological stress is identified as a trigger for IBS. Research on the effectiveness of the ketogenic diet for treating IBS remains limited.
Aim of the work: This work aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of ketogenic diet in mitigating colonic changes associated with experimentally induced irritable bowel syndrome in adult male albino rats.
Material and methods: Thirty adult male albino rats were used, divided equally into three groups:
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Control Group (Group I): Rats were fed a standard diet for ten days and then continued the same diet for an additional ten weeks without being exposed to water avoidance stress (WAS).
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IBS Group (Group II): Rats were fed a standard diet and subjected to WAS for ten days and then continued a standard diet for ten weeks.
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IBS-KD Group (Group III): Rats were fed a standard diet initially and exposed to WAS for ten days and then switched to ketogenic diet (KD) for ten weeks.
Results: Rats of the IBS group, which were fed a standard diet, showed several histological alterations of the descending colon, such as an irregular surface mucosal epithelium with detached cells in the lumen of the colon, degenerated colonocytes, a few goblet cells and large mast cells. In contrast, rats of the IBS-KD Group that were fed a ketogenic diet showed an almost regular histological structure of the descending colon.
Conclusion: Ketogenic diet could be regarded as a potentially beneficial approach for irritable bowel syndrome.