Multiple Sclerosis Patients More Prone to Develop Seizures

Pathway that involves astrocytes – a type of central nervous system support cells, explain why seizures occur in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), as per research at the University of California, Riverside School of Medicine, published in the journal ASN Neuro.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease that damages the fatty protective sheath of the nerve fibres– myelin. This hinders the speed of signals in the central nervous system leading to a progressive episodic decline in neurological function, MS affects more than 900,000 people in the United States.

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‘Brain tissues of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) show similar changes as seen in epilepsy, thereby reasoning why MS patients are more prone to develop seizures. This forms a foundation for developing effective therapies to manage treatment-resistant seizures in MS and other brain diseases. ’

Although seizures are not the defining symptoms of multiple sclerosis, it occurs three-times more often in MS patients than healthy individuals and may portend a flare-up of symptoms leading to a decreased quality of life, and higher mortality rate.

Epilepsy in patients with multiple sclerosis

To dig into thepoorly understood mechanisms that cause seizures in MS patients, the study examined 28 post-mortem brain tissue obtained from MS patients who experienced seizures (7 samples) and MS patients who did not (21 samples) with almost equal gender distribution. Data was collected from the National Institute of Health NeuroBioBank/Human Brain & Spinal Fluid Resource Center brain bank at the University of California, Los Angeles.

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The astrocytes in the hippocampal samples taken from the MS patients with seizure showed altered connections with signs of poor regulation of seizure signal.

"The most exciting aspect of the study was discovering that astrocytes in the brains of MS patients with seizures looked a lot like astrocytes in epileptic brains. Researchers might be able to enhance the support roles of astrocytes or compensate for their dysfunction to prevent or treat seizures in MS patients", says Andrew S. Lapato, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus who as first author conducted the work as part of his graduate studies in Tiwari-Woodruff's lab.

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They also observed reduced synaptic glutamate (EEAT2), impaired water, potassium ion buffering (AQP4), and altered gap junction coupling between astrocytes (CX43) in MS patients with seizures.

EAAT2 is a type of glutamate (neurotransmitter) transporter in mammalian brains. Its reduction causes the neurons to fire more frequently, resulting in increased seizure activity.

"One of the treasures of having post-mortem brain tissues for our study is that we can use them to see how expressed proteins differ among MS patients. If we don't know what the disease looks like, then we don't know what we can do to treat it", says Seema Tiwari-Woodruff, a professor of biomedical sciences and senior author on the paper.

The study thereby forms a foundation for better therapies to manage treatment-resistant seizures in patients with multiple sclerosis and other brain diseases.

Source-Medindia