Inflammation epilepsy

BACKGROUND: Although there are models predicting epilepsy recurrence under different clinical conditions, few studies have examined blood biomarkers. Inflammation plays a crucial role in the occurrence and development of epilepsy. We analyzed inflammatory mediators in a regional hospital-based epilepsy cohort and investigated their relationship with subsequent epilepsy recurrence. METHODS: Interictal inflammatory mediators were measured in 128 patients diagnosed with epilepsy participating in a prospective study...

Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease is a multisystem disorder characterized by bilateral granulomatous panuveitis resulting in serous retinal detachments, disk edema, and a sunset glow fundus development. Furthermore, it is associated with various extraocular findings, such as tinnitus, hearing loss, vertigo, poliosis, and vitiligo (1). VKH is considered to be an autoimmune disease mediated by T-cells targeting melanocyte antigen tyrosinase peptide (2). Moreover, VKH more often occurs in individuals with a genetic predisposition to the disease, including those of Asian and Hispanic heritage (3)...

OBJECTIVES: To explore the mechanism of core points in acupuncture and moxibustion treatment for epilepsy by using data mining technique, so as to provide a reference for clinical practice and experimental research. METHODS: The data comes from relevant documents collected from CNKI, Wanfang, SinoMed, VIP, PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, EBSCO, Web of Science databases. The selected acupoints were analyzed in descriptive statistics, high-frequency acupoints group and core acupoint prescription...

Epilepsy is the most common chronic neurological disease, affecting nearly 1%-2% of the world's population. Current pharmacological treatment and regimen adjustments are aimed at controlling seizures; however, they are ineffective in one-third of the patients. Although neuronal hyperexcitability was previously thought to be mainly due to ion channel alterations, current research has revealed other contributing molecular pathways, including processes involved in cellular signaling, energy metabolism, protein synthesis, axon guidance, inflammation, and others...

The mechanisms causing new onset refractory status epilepticus (NORSE) are often unknown. Recently, a seasonal variation with NORSE peaking during the summer was described in a mixed cohort of adults and children why we here studied the seasonal variation in a Danish status epilepticus (SE) cohort. This retrospective cohort study comprised SE patients aged ≥18 diagnosed and treated 2008-2017 at the Odense University Hospital. Clinical characteristics and seasonality of patients fulfilling the diagnostic criteria for NORSE were compared with patients with refractory SE (RSE) due to other reasons and with the seasonal variation of autoantibodies associated with autoimmune encephalitis in the Danish autoimmune encephalitis register...

Epilepsy, a complex neurological disorder, is characterized by recurrent seizures caused by aberrant electrical activity in the brain. Central to this study is the role of lysosomal dysfunction in epilepsy, which can lead to the accumulation of toxic substrates and impaired autophagy in neurons. Our focus is on phosphodiesterase-4 (PDE4), an enzyme that plays a crucial role in regulating intracellular cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) levels by converting it into adenosine monophosphate (AMP). In pathological states, including epilepsy, increased PDE4 activity contributes to a decrease in cAMP levels, which may exacerbate neuroinflammatory responses...

The development of antiepileptic drugs is still a long process. In this study, heparin-modified superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (UFH-SPIONs) were prepared, and their antiepileptic effect and underlying mechanism were investigated. UFH-SPIONs are stable, homogeneous nanosystems with antioxidant enzyme activity that are able to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and enriched in hippocampal epileptogenic foci. The pretreatment with UFH-SPIONs effectively prolonged the onset of seizures and reduced seizure severity after lithium/pilocarpine (LP)-induced seizures in rats...

UNLABELLED: To survive, organisms must adapt to a staggering diversity of environmental signals, ranging from sensory information to pathogenic infection, across the lifespan. At the same time, organisms intrinsically generate biological oscillations, such as circadian rhythms, without input from the environment. While the nervous system is well-suited to integrate extrinsic and intrinsic cues, how the brain balances these influences to shape biological function system-wide is not well understood at the molecular level...

Microglial calcium signaling is rare in a baseline state but strongly engaged during early epilepsy development. The mechanism(s) governing microglial calcium signaling are not known. By developing an in vivo uridine diphosphate (UDP) fluorescent sensor, GRABUDP1.0 , we discovered that UDP release is a conserved response to seizures and excitotoxicity across brain regions. UDP can signal through the microglial-enriched P2Y6 receptor to increase calcium activity during epileptogenesis. P2Y6 calcium activity is associated with lysosome biogenesis and enhanced production of NF-κB-related cytokines...

The intricate relationship between viruses and epilepsy involves a bidirectional interaction. Certain viruses can induce epilepsy by infecting the brain, leading to inflammation, damage, or abnormal electrical activity. Conversely, epilepsy patients may be more susceptible to viral infections due to factors, such as compromised immune systems, anticonvulsant drugs, or surgical interventions. Neuroinflammation, a common factor in both scenarios, exhibits onset, duration, intensity, and consequence variations...

The gut microbiota is altered in epilepsy and is emerging as a potential target for new therapies. We studied the effects of rifaximin, a gastrointestinal tract-specific antibiotic, on seizures and neuropathology and on alterations in the gut and its microbiota in a mouse model of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Epilepsy was induced by intra-amygdala kainate injection causing status epilepticus (SE) in C57Bl6 adult male mice. Sham mice were injected with vehicle. Two cohorts of SE mice were fed a rifaximin-supplemented diet for 21 days, starting either at 24 h post-SE (early disease stage) or at day 51 post-SE (chronic disease stage)...

Post-traumatic epilepsy (PTE) stands as one of the numerous debilitating consequences that follow traumatic brain injury (TBI). Despite its impact on many individuals, the current landscape offers only a limited array of reliable treatment options, and our understanding of the underlying mechanisms and susceptibility factors remains incomplete. Among the potential contributors to epileptogenesis, astrocytes, a type of glial cell, have garnered substantial attention as they are believed to promote hyperexcitability and the development of seizures in the brain following TBI...

OBJECTIVE: To explore the inhibitory effect of saikosonin a (SSa) on pentylenetetrazol-induced acute epilepsy seizures in a mouse model of depression and explore the mechanism mediating this effect. METHODS: Male C57BL/6J mouse models of depression was established by oral administration of corticosterone via drinking water for 3 weeks, and acute epileptic seizures were induced by intraperitoneal injection of a single dose of pentylenetetrazole. The effect of intraperitoneal injection of SSa prior to the treatment on depressive symptoms and epileptic seizures were assessed using behavioral tests, epileptic seizure grading and hippocampal morphology observation...

Physiological and pathological processes such as homeostasis, embryogenesis, development, tumorigenesis, and cell movement depend on the intercellular communication through gap junctions (GJIC). Connexin (Cx)-based GJ channels are formed of two apposing hemichannels in the contiguous cells and provide a direct pathway for electrical and metabolic intercellular communication. The main modulators of GJ conductance are transjunctional voltage, intracellular pH, Ca2+ , Mg2+ , and phosphorylation. Chemical modulators of GJIC are being used in cases of various intercellular communication-dependent diseases...

Mitochondria are critical modulators of antiviral tolerance through the release of mitochondrial RNA and DNA (mtDNA and mtRNA) fragments into the cytoplasm after infection, activating virus sensors and type-I interferon (IFN-I) response1-4 . The relevance of these mechanisms for mitochondrial diseases remains understudied. Here we investigated mitochondrial recessive ataxia syndrome (MIRAS), which is caused by a common European founder mutation in DNA polymerase gamma (POLG1)5 . Patients homozygous for the MIRAS variant p...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has been strongly implicated in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS). Despite this, there are no routinely used tests to measure cellular response to EBV. In this study, we analyzed the cellular response to EBV nuclear antigen-1 (EBNA-1) in people with MS (pwMS) using a whole blood assay. METHODS: This cross-sectional study took place in a dedicated MS clinic in a university hospital. We recruited healthy controls, people with epilepsy (PWE), and pwMS taking a range of disease-modifying treatments (DMTs) including natalizumab, anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), dimethyl fumarate (DMF), and also treatment naïve...

Over the past few decades, many current uses for cannabinoids have been described, ranging from controlling epilepsy to neuropathic pain and anxiety treatment. Medicines containing cannabinoids have been approved by both the FDA and the EMA for the control of specific diseases for which there are few alternatives. However, the molecular-level mechanism of action of cannabinoids is still poorly understood. Recently, cannabinoids have been shown to interact with autotaxin (ATX), a secreted lysophospholipase D enzyme responsible for catalyzing lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) to lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), a pleiotropic growth factor that interacts with LPA receptors...

Neurocysticercosis (NCC) is a common parasitic disease of the central nervous system (CNS) in low- and middle-income countries. The infection is pleomorphic, caused by the larval form of the cestode, Taenia solium , and part of the heterogeneity of its clinical presentations is associated with the localization of the parasite within the CNS. Changes in the current epidemiological trends of NCC indicate that extra-parenchymal NCC is proportionally becoming more frequent. Extraparenchymal NCC is commonly accompanied by raised intracranial hypertension due to hydrocephalus, which is an emergency requiring cyst extirpation by surgical intervention to relieve the symptoms...

Neurological diseases are multifactorial, genetic and environmental. Environmental factors such as diet, physical activity and emotional state are epigenetic factors. Environmental markers are responsible for epigenetic modifications. The effect of epigenetic changes is increased inflammation of the nervous system and neuronal damage. In recent years, it has been shown that epigenetic changes may cause an increased risk of neurological disorders but, currently, the relationship between epigenetic modifications and neurodegeneration remains unclear...

Histotripsy, a non-thermal ultrasound technique, holds significant promise in various applications within the realm of brain interventions. While its use for treating brain tumors is somewhat limited, focused ultrasound technology has been extensively investigated for a wide range of purposes within the brain, including disrupting the blood-brain barrier, supporting immunotherapy, addressing conditions like essential tremor, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy, and neuropathic pain. Research findings indicate that histotripsy can reduce tumor cells with fewer pulses, minimizing the risk of bleeding and cellular injury...