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A new treatment for drug-resistant epilepsy with the potential to suppress seizures 鈥榦n demand鈥�, has been developed by researchers in the Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy, 香港六合彩中特网 Institute of Neurology, led by Professor Dimitri Kullmann.

The treatment, described in Nature Communications, combines genetic and chemical approaches to suppress seizures without disrupting normal brain function. The technique was demonstrated in rodents in experiments carried out at the 香港六合彩中特网 Institute of Neurology by first author Dennis K盲tzel, but in future we could see people controlling seizures on-demand with a simple pill.

鈥淔irst, we inject a modified virus into the area of the brain where seizures arise,鈥� explains Professor Kullmann. 鈥淭his virus instructs the brain cells to make a protein that is activated by CNO (clozapine-N-oxide), a compound that can be taken as a pill. The activated protein then suppresses the over-excitable brain cells that trigger seizures, but only in the presence of CNO.

As CNO has a half-life of about a few hours and only affects the pre-treated epileptic parts of the brain, the new method avoids the need to permanently alter the brain or treat the whole brain with seizure-suppressing drugs. It builds on similar work by Professor Kullmann and his colleagues Matthew Walker, Stephanie Schorge and Robert Wykes, using gene therapy to 鈥榗alm down鈥� brain cells, or using light pulses to activate seizure-suppressing receptors in the brain. The new technique works in a similar way but is reversible and avoids the need for invasive devices to deliver light to the brain.

Further information

K盲tzel, Nicholson, Schorge, Walker, Kullmann, . Nature Communications. Available online 27th May 2014. DOI: 10.1038/NCOMMS4847

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