Trinity College Dublin scientists have reported a significant gain in our understanding of epilepsy, as they have uncovered an approach that may be used to prevent dangerous seizure activity.
Epilepsy is a persistent central nervous system (CNS) illness that affects about 1% of the world’s population, or 50 million people. Recurrent, spontaneous seizures are a symptom of it, which are produced by disturbed electrical activity in the brain.
While the brain only makes about 2% of the human body’s mass, it consumes over 20% of the body’s daily energy production. Brain cells are supplied by an elaborate network of capillaries known as the blood-brain barrier in order to meet this high energy demand (BBB). We assume that every brain cell is basically supplied by its own capillary due to the size of these capillaries.
The Trinity scientists believe that disturbance to the integrity of these capillaries and the BBB is a primary cause of seizure activity in humans. Their latest research, however, suggests that restoring that integrity helps avoid seizures.
According to the study authors, “designing medicines aimed at stabilising the integrity of blood vessels in the brain may hold promise in treating patients who are currently non-responsive to anti-seizure medications.”
In addition to people with epilepsy, the work was also translational in nature. The scientists were able to show that BBB damage was a critical cause of seizure activity using similar procedures in humans and pre-clinical mice.
Furthermore, they were able to demonstrate that restoring BBB integrity could prevent seizures – a result that has the potential to move the discoveries closer to real and useful treatment.
The first author of the study added that “stabilising the integrity of blood vessels in the brain could have relevance for a wide range of other diseases and we are just at the beginning of the process in driving the research forward.”
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