Epilepsy

Scientists shed light on causes of epilepsy

Italian researchers said: any kind of collapse in a reaction between immune cells and blood vessels in the brain appears to play a key role in epilepsy. This means that modern antibody based drugs designed to modify the immune system used in other diseases may one day help fight the debilitating disorder. Epilepsy is considered incurable but medicines can control seizures in most people with the common neurological disorder, although sometimes they can have severe side effects.

Gabriela Constantin of the University of Verona in Italy and colleagues reported: a study of mice showed how immune cells sticking to blood vessels in the brain caused inflammation that contributed to epileptic seizures. The finding could lead to new treatments to prevent the condition that affects about 1% of the general population worldwide.

The researchers found that during a seizure the brain released a chemical that caused the white blood cells, or leukocytes, to stick to blood vessels. But when these immune cells stuck to the brain blood vessels they caused damage by releasing molecules that caused inflammation and contributed to seizures in mice, Constantin said. She also said: Mice that received monoclonal antibodies to block the immune cells from sticking to blood vessels had a dramatic reduction of seizures, in some cases 100%.

The treatment worked in a similar way to Elan Corp Plc's multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri and Genentech Inc's Raptiva for psoriasis, she added. This means these kinds of drugs might also one day be used to treat epilepsy and the findings could also lead to new anti-inflammatory treatments for epilepsy, she said.