Pharmacokinetic effects of a single dose nutritional ketone ester supplement on brain glucose and ketone metabolism in alcohol use disorder

Ten participants, five with alcohol use disorder (AUD) and five healthy controls, each had two FDG-PET brain scans in randomized order, one after 395 mg/kg of a ketone ester (KE) and one at baseline. Five AUD participants also had magnetic resonance spectroscopy to measure cingulate beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB). KE lowered blood glucose and raised BHB in both groups, and no major differences were seen between the AUD and control groups. Cingulate BHB levels tripled.