Use of peripheral blood transcriptome biomarkers for epilepsy prediction

• Published in: Neuroscience letters Vol. 497; no. 3; pp. 213 - 217
• Main Authors: Karsten, Stanislav L., Kudo, Lili C., Bragin, Anatol J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ireland Elsevier Ireland Ltd 27.06.2011
• Subjects: Animals; Biomarkers - blood; Blood Proteins - analysis; Brain - metabolism; Epilepsy; Epilepsy - blood; Epilepsy - diagnosis; Epileptogenesis; Gene expression; Gene Expression Profiling - methods; Humans; Microarrays; Peripheral blood; Status epilepticus; Transcriptome; Epileptogenesis; Microarrays; Epilepsy; Peripheral blood; Transcriptome; Gene expression; Status epilepticus
• ISSN: 0304-3940; 1872-7972
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2011.03.019

► Peripheral blood transcriptome is a valuable source of diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers. ► Currently brain injury patients cannot be assessed for risk of developing epilepsy. ► Blood transcriptome profile may identify patients who will develop seizures. There are currently no predictive methods to identify patients who suffered an initial brain injury and are at high risk of developing chronic epilepsy. Consequently, treatments aimed at epilepsy prevention that would target the underlying epileptogenic process are neither available nor being developed. After a brain injury or any other initial precipitating event (IPE) to the development of epilepsy, pathological changes may occur in forms of inflammation, damage in the blood brain barrier, neuron loss, gliosis, axon sprouting, etc., in multiple brain areas. Recent studies provide connections between various kinds of brain pathology and alterations in the peripheral blood transcriptome. In this review we discuss the possibility of using peripheral blood transcriptome biomarkers for the detection of epileptogenesis and consequently, subjects at high risk of developing epilepsy.