Loss of Nucleobindin-2 Causes Insulin Resistance in Obesity without Impacting Satiety or Adiposity.

Inducers of satiety are drug targets for weight loss to mitigate obesity-associated diseases. Nucleobindin-2 (Nucb2) is thought to be post-translationally processed into bioactive nesfatin-1 peptide, which reportedly induces satiety, causes weight loss, and thus improves insulin sensitivity. Here, we show that deletion of Nucb2 did not affect food intake or adiposity and, instead, caused insulin resistance in mice fed a high-fat diet.

Perampanel in routine clinical use across Europe: Pooled, multicenter, observational data.

Objective: To pool observational data on the routine use of perampanel to obtain information on real-world outcomes and data in populations typically underrepresented in clinical trials.

Methods: Individual-level data of people with epilepsy treated with perampanel at 45 European centers were merged into a single dataset. Prespecified outcomes were: 1-year retention rate, 1-year seizure freedom rate (duration ≥6 months), and incidence of treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs).

Rare coding variants in genes encoding GABA receptors in genetic generalised epilepsies: an exome-based case-control study.

Background: Genetic generalised epilepsy is the most common type of inherited epilepsy. Despite a high concordance rate of 80% in monozygotic twins, the genetic background is still poorly understood. We aimed to investigate the burden of rare genetic variants in genetic generalised epilepsy.

Exposure to antiepileptic drugs in pregnancy: The need for a family factor framework.

Purpose: Children exposed to antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) in utero are at risk for developmental problems. Maternal epilepsy, its impact on the family system, and other family factors may also contribute. We reviewed the possible associations between family factors and developmental outcome in children who had been exposed to AED during pregnancy.

Hypoglycemic Toxins and Enteroviruses as Causes of Outbreaks of Acute Encephalitis-Like Syndrome in Children, Bac Giang Province, Northern Vietnam.

We investigated the cause of seasonal outbreaks of pediatric acute encephalitis-like syndrome associated with litchi harvests (May-July) in northern Vietnam since 2008. Nineteen cerebrospinal fluid samples were positive for human enterovirus B, and 8 blood samples were positive for hypoglycemic toxins present in litchi fruits. Patients who were positive for hypoglycemic toxins had shorter median times between disease onset and admission, more reports of seizures, more reports of hypoglycemia (glucose level <3 mmol/L), lower median numbers of leukocytes in cerebrospinal fluid, and higher median serum levels of alanine aminotransferase and aspartate transaminase than did patients who were positive for enteroviruses.

Genome-wide association study: Exploring the genetic basis for responsiveness to ketogenic dietary therapies for drug-resistant epilepsy.

Objective: With the exception of specific metabolic disorders, predictors of response to ketogenic dietary therapies (KDTs) are unknown. We aimed to determine whether common variation across the genome influences the response to KDT for epilepsy.

Methods: We genotyped individuals who were negative for glucose transporter type 1 deficiency syndrome or other metabolic disorders, who received KDT for epilepsy.

SUDEP and seizure safety communication: Assessing if people hear and act.

Background: Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is a leading cause of death among people with chronic epilepsy. People with intellectual disability (ID) are overrepresented in this population. The SUDEP and Seizure Safety Checklist ("Checklist") is a tool to discuss risk factors influencing seizures and the risk of SUDEP.

Marriage in epilepsy: The impact of the question in knowledge, attitude, and practice surveys.

Background: Knowledge, attitudes, and practice (KAP) questionnaire-based surveys have captured negative attitudes towards marriage involving people with epilepsy (PWE). The attitudes may vary according to the nature of the question posed, whether personal or generic, in addition to many other covariates.

Methods: We carried out meta-proportion and -regression analyses of epilepsy-related KAP surveys published between 1970 and 2016 in the medical literature analysis retrieval system online (MEDLINE) database.

Under representation of people with epilepsy and intellectual disability in research.

Purpose: One quarter of people with epilepsy have an intellectual disability (ID) and one fifth of people with an ID have epilepsy. Both conditions are associated with higher levels of morbidity, stigma and premature mortality. There have been calls for action to promote more research in this group.

Effects of carbamazepine and lamotrigine on functional magnetic resonance imaging cognitive networks.

Objective: To investigate the effects of sodium channel-blocking antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) language network activations in patients with focal epilepsy.

Methods: In a retrospective study, we identified patients who were treated at the time of language fMRI scanning with either carbamazepine (CBZ; n = 42) or lamotrigine (LTG; n = 42), but not another sodium channel-blocking AED. We propensity-matched 42 patients taking levetiracetam (LEV) as "patient-controls" and included further 42 age- and gender-matched healthy controls.

Neuroimaging in epilepsy.

Purpose Of Review: Epilepsy neuroimaging is important for detecting the seizure onset zone, predicting and preventing deficits from surgery and illuminating mechanisms of epileptogenesis. An aspiration is to integrate imaging and genetic biomarkers to enable personalized epilepsy treatments.

Recent Findings: The ability to detect lesions, particularly focal cortical dysplasia and hippocampal sclerosis, is increased using ultra high-field imaging and postprocessing techniques such as automated volumetry, T2 relaxometry, voxel-based morphometry and surface-based techniques.

Has the Time Come to Stratify and Score SUDEP Risk to Inform People With Epilepsy of Their Changes in Safety?

Recent publication of the American Academy of Neurology SUDEP guidance highlighted the importance to American clinicians of making people with epilepsy aware of SUDEP risk. It is the first guideline to do this in the United States. It follows precedent set out in the UK by National Institute of Clinical Excellence in 2004.

Decreasing the risk of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy: structured communication of risk factors for premature mortality in people with epilepsy.

Background And Purpose: Good practice guidelines highlight the importance of making people with epilepsy aware of the risk of premature mortality in epilepsy particularly due to sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). The SUDEP and Seizure Safety Checklist ('Checklist') is a structured risk communication tool used in UK clinics. It is not known if sharing structured information on risk factors allows individuals to reduce SUDEP and premature mortality risks.

Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy refractory to treatment in a tertiary referral center.

Introduction: Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) is an epileptic syndrome often regarded as one in which seizures are relatively easy to control. Individuals with JME, however, often require lifelong therapy to remain seizure-free, and a few have refractory epilepsy. We ascertained a population with JME and characterized a subgroup with refractory epilepsy.

Magnitude and factors associated with nonadherence to antiepileptic drug treatment in Africa: A cross-sectional multisite study.

Objectives: The epilepsy treatment gap is large in low- and middle-income countries, but the reasons behind nonadherence to treatment with antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) across African countries remain unclear. We investigated the extent to which AEDs are not taken and associated factors in people with active convulsive epilepsy (ACE) identified in cross-sectional studies conducted in five African countries.

Methods: We approached 2,192 people with a confirmed diagnosis of ACE for consent to give blood voluntarily.

Results from the Super Cryogenic Dark Matter Search Experiment at Soudan.

We report the result of a blinded search for weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) using the majority of the SuperCDMS Soudan data set. With an exposure of 1690 kg d, a single candidate event is observed, consistent with expected backgrounds. This analysis (combined with previous Ge results) sets an upper limit on the spin-independent WIMP-nucleon cross section of 1.

Ring Chromosome 17 Not Involving the Miller-Dieker Region: A Case with Drug-Resistant Epilepsy.

Chromosomal abnormalities are often identified in people with neurodevelopmental disorders including intellectual disability, autism, and epilepsy. Ring chromosomes, which usually involve gene copy number loss, are formed by fusion of subtelomeric or telomeric chromosomal regions. Some ring chromosomes, including ring 14, 17, and 20, are strongly associated with seizure disorders.

Identifying and mitigating Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP) risk factors.

Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP) is a significant cause of death for people with chronic epilepsy. Good practice guidance in the UK and the USA expect SUDEP to be discussed with the individual. The event rarity, methodological variance and lack of robust research into the pathological mechanisms, associated risk factors, and management strategies have created a challenge on how and what to discuss.

Eslicarbazepine acetate as a replacement for levetiracetam in people with epilepsy developing behavioral adverse events.

Background: Psychiatric and behavioral side effects (PBSEs) are a major cause of antiepileptic drug (AED) withdrawal. Levetiracetam (LEV) is a recognized first-line AED with good seizure outcomes but recognized with PBSEs. Eslicarbazepine (ESL) is considered to function similarly to an active metabolite of the commonly used carbamazepine (CBZ).

Caffeine and seizures: A systematic review and quantitative analysis.

Purpose: Caffeine is the most commonly used central nervous system (CNS) stimulant. The relationship between caffeine, seizures, epilepsy, and antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) is complex and not fully understood. Case reports suggest that caffeine triggers seizures in susceptible people.

Prediction of late seizures after ischaemic stroke with a novel prognostic model (the SeLECT score): a multivariable prediction model development and validation study.

Background: Stroke is one of the leading causes of acquired epilepsy in adults. An instrument to predict whether people are at high risk of developing post-stroke seizures is not available. We aimed to develop and validate a prognostic model of late (>7 days) seizures after ischaemic stroke.

Long-interval intracortical inhibition as biomarker for epilepsy: a transcranial magnetic stimulation study.

Cortical excitability, as measured by transcranial magnetic stimulation combined with electromyography, is a potential biomarker for the diagnosis and follow-up of epilepsy. We report on long-interval intracortical inhibition data measured in four different centres in healthy controls (n = 95), subjects with refractory genetic generalized epilepsy (n = 40) and with refractory focal epilepsy (n = 69). Long-interval intracortical inhibition was measured by applying two supra-threshold stimuli with an interstimulus interval of 50, 100, 150, 200 and 250 ms and calculating the ratio between the response to the second (test stimulus) and to the first (conditioning stimulus).

Developing a flexible, high-efficiency Agrobacterium-mediated sorghum transformation system with broad application.

Sorghum is the fifth most widely planted cereal crop in the world and is commonly cultivated in arid and semi-arid regions such as Africa. Despite its importance as a food source, sorghum genetic improvement through transgenic approaches has been limited because of an inefficient transformation system. Here, we report a ternary vector (also known as cohabitating vector) system using a recently described pVIR accessory plasmid that facilitates efficient Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of sorghum.

The ILAE classification of seizures and epilepsies: implications for the clinic.

The classification of epileptic seizures and the epilepsies has recently been revised by the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) and a new classification scheme issued. Areas covered: The new classification scheme has been critically appraised in the light of the previous classifications and subsequent revisions. The purposes of the classification and its potential use have been extensively discussed.