Mice with type I interferon signaling deficiency are prone to epilepsy upon HSV-1 infection.

Viral encephalitis continues to be a significant public health concern. In our previous study, we discovered a lower expression of antiviral factors, such as IFN-β, STING and IFI16, in the brain tissues of patients with Rasmussen's encephalitis (RE), a rare chronic neurological disorder often occurred in children, characterized by unihemispheric brain atrophy. Furthermore, a higher cumulative viral score of human herpes viruses (HHVs) was also found to have a significant positive correlation with the unihemispheric atrophy in RE.

The clinicopathological features of ganglioglioma with CD34 expression and BRAF mutation in patients with epilepsy.

Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate the clinicopathological features, as well as the surgical prognosis, of epilepsy-associated gangliogliomas (GG) with CD34 expression and BRAF mutation.

Methods: Clinical data of patients who underwent epilepsy surgery for GG were retrospectively studied. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to evaluate the correlations of clinical and pathological factors with molecular markers of CD34 expression and BRAF mutation in GG.

Translocation of High Mobility Group Box 1 From the Nucleus to the Cytoplasm in Depressed Patients With Epilepsy.

Depression is a common psychiatric comorbidity in patients with epilepsy, especially those with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). The aim of this study was to assess changes in high mobility group box protein 1 (HMGB1) expression in epileptic patients with and without comorbid depression. Sixty patients with drug-resistant TLE who underwent anterior temporal lobectomy were enrolled.

The long-term surgical outcomes of low-grade epilepsy-associated neuroepithelial tumors.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the surgical outcomes and relevant prognostic factors in patients with low-grade epilepsy-associated neuroepithelial tumors (LEAT) and, especially, to develop a scoring system to predict postoperative seizure outcomes.

Methods: The clinical data of patients who underwent epilepsy surgery for LEAT were retrospectively studied. The surgical outcomes of seizure and neurological statuses in patients were evaluated using Engel classification and modified Rankin Scale (mRS) scoring, respectively.

Rasmussen's encephalitis is characterized by relatively lower production of IFN-β and activated cytotoxic T cell upon herpes viruses infection.

Background: The etiology of Rasmussen's encephalitis (RE), a rare chronic neurological disorder characterized by CD8+ T cell infiltration and unihemispheric brain atrophy, is still unknown. Various human herpes viruses (HHVs) have been detected in RE brain, but their contribution to RE pathogenesis is unclear.

Methods: HHVs infection and relevant immune response were compared among brain tissues from RE, temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients.

Regulation of TWIK-related K channel 1 in the anterior hippocampus of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy with comorbid depression.

Epilepsy with comorbid depression has recently attracted increasing attention. Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) may represent an increased risk of developing depression, especially if the seizures do not generalize. The two-pore domain potassium channel-TWIK-related K channel (TREK-1) plays important roles in both epilepsy and depression.

HCMV infection and IFITM3 rs12252 are associated with Rasmussen's encephalitis disease progression.

Objective: Rasmussen's encephalitis (RE) is a rare and severe progressive epileptic syndrome with unknown etiology. Infection by viruses such as human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) has been hypothesized to be a potential trigger for RE. Interferon-induced transmembrane protein-3 (IFITM3) single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs12252 is associated with the severity of viral infection disease.

Asymmetry of Cerebral Peduncles for Predicting Motor Function Restoration in Young Patients Before Hemispherectomy.

Objective: Hemispherectomy has been used successfully for patients with medically intractable epilepsy. However, it is difficult to predict postoperative motor function. The aim of the present study was to analyze whether the preoperative asymmetry of cerebral peduncles could be used to predict motor function restoration before hemispherectomy for young patients with medically intractable epilepsy.

Preoperative Heart Rate Variability as Predictors of Vagus Nerve Stimulation Outcome in Patients with Drug-resistant Epilepsy.

Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is an adjunctive treatment for drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE). However, it is still difficult to predict which patients will respond to VNS treatment and to what extent. We aim to explore the relationship between preoperative heart rate variability (HRV) and VNS outcome.

Downregulation of adult and neonatal Nav1.5 in the dorsal root ganglia and axon of peripheral sensory neurons of rats with spared nerve injury.

Previous studies demonstrated that Nav1.5 splice variants, including Nav1.5a and Nav1.

Identification of the epileptogenic zone of temporal lobe epilepsy from stereo-electroencephalography signals: A phase transfer entropy and graph theory approach.

The aim of this research is to apply an approach based on phase transfer entropy (PTE) and graph theory to study the interactions between the stereo-electroencephalography (SEEG) activities recorded in multilobar origin, in order to evaluate their ability to detect the epileptogenic zone (EZ) of temporal lobe epilepsies (TLE). Forty-three patients were included in this retrospective study. Five to sixteen (median = 12) multilead electrodes were implanted per patient, and, for each patient, a sub-set of between 10 and 32 (median = 22) bipolar derivations was selected for analysis.

Multiple Nav1.5 isoforms are functionally expressed in the brain and present distinct expression patterns compared with cardiac Nav1.5.

It has previously been demonstrated that there are various voltage gated sodium channel (Nav) 1.5 splice variants expressed in brain tissue. A total of nine Nav1.

Altered expression of neuropeptide Y receptors caused by focal cortical dysplasia in human intractable epilepsy.

Focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) is a common cause of pharmacologically-intractable epilepsy, however, the precise mechanisms underlying the epileptogenicity of FCD remains to be determined. Neuropeptide Y (NPY), an endogenous anticonvulsant in the central nervous system, plays an important role in the regulation of neuronal excitability. Increased expression of NPY and its receptors has been identified in the hippocampus of patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy, presumed to act as an endogenous anticonvulsant mechanism.

Analysis of Altered Micro RNA Expression Profiles in Focal Cortical Dysplasia IIB.

Focal cortical dysplasia type IIB is a commonly encountered subtype of developmental malformation of the cerebral cortex and is often associated with pharmacoresistant epilepsy. In this study, to investigate the molecular etiology of focal cortical dysplasia type IIB, the authors performed micro ribonucleic acid (RNA) microarray on surgical specimens from 5 children (2 female and 3 male, mean age was 73.4 months, range 50-112 months) diagnosed of focal cortical dysplasia type IIB and matched normal tissue adjacent to the lesion.

Treatment of epilepsy with bipolar electro-coagulation: an analysis of cortical blood flow and histological change in temporal lobe.

Background: Bipolar electro-coagulation has a reported efficacy in treating epilepsy involving functional cortex by pure electro-coagulation or combination with resection. However, the mechanisms of bipolar electro-coagulation are not completely known. We studied the acute cortical blood flow and histological changes after bipolar electro-coagulation in 24 patients with intractable temporal lobe epilepsy.

Refractory temporal lobe epilepsy caused by angiocentric glioma complicated with focal cortical dysplasia: a surgical case series.

Angiocentric glioma (AG) is a rare, epilepsy-associated, low-grade neoplasm with a characteristic perivascular growth pattern. Here, we review the histological types, surgical interventions, and postoperative seizure in our three cases of AG with drug-resistant epilepsy. Some patients with AG present focal cortical dysplasia.

Treatment of drug-resistant epilepsy with vagus nerve stimulation -- review of 45 cases.

Background: Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is an alternative treatment for drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE). The study aimed to explore the potential factors of prognosis, safety and effect of VNS treatment in patients with DRE.

Methods: We retrospectively examined 45 cases of DRE that received VNS treatment in our center from June 2004 to June 2010 and analyzed the parameters (age of patient receiving VNS, seizure frequency before and after VNS as well as treatment duration) by Student's t test, Fisher's exact and Mann-Whitney U tests, and multivariate Logistic regression.

[Pediatric intractable epilepsy surgery].

Objective: To explore the strategy of pediatric intractable epilepsy surgery.

Methods: The clinical data of 96 pediatric cases with intractable epilepsy and epilepsy syndromes underwent surgical treatment from April 2004 to April 2006 were retrospectively analyzed.

Results: The surgical treatments were performed based on the results of comprehensive data from neurological, neurosurgical and pediatric departments.

[Clinical characteristics and treatment of Rasmussen syndrome in 16 children].

Objective: Rasmussen syndrome (RS) is a chronic inflammatory disease of unknown origin, usually affecting one brain hemisphere. The present study aimed to analyze the electroclinical characteristics and treatment of RS.

Methods: The medical records of 16 children with RS were retrospectively reviewed.

Upregulated expression of postsynaptic density-93 and N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors subunits 2B mRNA in temporal lobe tissue of epilepsy.

Objective: To investigate the expression of PSD-93 mRNA and NR2B mRNA in the brain tissue from the patients with epilepsy so as to explore the possible mechanisms of the pathogenesis of the epilepsy.

Methods: Fifty-six patients with epilepsy were divided into intractable epilepsy (IE) and non-intractable epilepsy (NIE) groups. cDNA microarrays prepared from the brain tissues obtained from these two groups were scanned and comparison to those from the non-epileptogenic control (C) was made.

Decreased expression of thyroid receptor-associated protein 220 in temporal lobe tissue of patients with refractory epilepsy.

Purpose: TRAP220 (thyroid hormone receptor-associated protein) functions as a coactivator for nuclear receptors and stimulates transcription by recruiting the TRAP mediator complex to hormone responsive promoter regions. Thus, TRAP220 enhances the function of thyroid/steroid hormone receptors such as thyroid hormone and oestrogen receptors. This study investigated the expression of TRAP220 mRNA and protein level in epileptic brains comparing with human control.