Animals that develop epilepsy after an infection can be identified as early as three months prior to their first seizure by measuring interactions between the brain and the heart, according to new research using a mouse model of post-cerebral malaria epilepsy. Published in JNeurosci, this finding could inform efforts to diagnose and treat acquired epilepsy.
Cerebral malaria afflicts more than three million people worldwide, affects young children, and leads to epilepsy in an estimated 15 percent of survivors. Reducing the risk of developing epilepsy and associated fatal complications, such as sudden unexplained death in epilepsy, requires a reliable way to detect and monitor epileptogenesis.
By recording neural and cardiac activity in a mouse model of cerebral malaria, Fatemeh Bahari, Bruce Gluckman and colleagues discovered a signal transmitted between the brain and the heart that occurred only in the 75 percent of mice that acquired epilepsy. Translating this biomarker to humans has the potential to improve therapeutic approaches in patients at risk of developing epilepsy, such as those recovering from traumatic brain injury or stroke.
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Article: A brain-heart biomarker for epileptogenesis
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1130-18.2018
Corresponding authors: Fatemeh Bahari, fzb116@psu.edu and Bruce Gluckman, BruceGluckman@psu.edu (Pennsylvania State University, University Park, USA)
About JNeurosci
JNeurosci, the Society for Neuroscience's first journal, was launched in 1981 as a means to communicate the findings of the highest quality neuroscience research to the growing field. Today, the journal remains committed to publishing cutting-edge neuroscience that will have an immediate and lasting scientific impact, while responding to authors' changing publishing needs, representing breadth of the field and diversity in authorship.
About The Society for Neuroscience
The Society for Neuroscience is the world's largest organization of scientists and physicians devoted to understanding the brain and nervous system. The nonprofit organization, founded in 1969, now has nearly 37,000 members in more than 90 countries and over 130 chapters worldwide.