β-Hydroxybutyrate (BHB) Single Analyte Assay

Metabolomics provides valuable insight into the realm of brain science. Through dynamic bidirectional communication along the “gut-brain axis,” gut microbes collaborate with their hosts to regulate the development and function of the nervous system. For instance, in epilepsy, it is well-established that a low-carbohydrate, high-fat ketogenic diet (KD) can help treat refractory epilepsy, which affects more than a third of epileptic patients who don’t respond to existing anticonvulsive drugs. What scientists haven’t understood until recently is how this kind of diet translates to brain activity. The answer for this aspect of epilepsy lies in the gut microbiome. There are many other neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s disease, ALS, Parkinson’s disease and more. While so much remains to be understood about brain science, we do know that metabolomics is uniquely poised to understand the brain because of the ability of metabolites, small molecules, to cross the blood-brain barrier providing unique insights.