Timely therapy prevents epilepsy in rats

By David Douglas

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - In rats genetically predisposed to develop epilepsy, Connecticut-based researchers found that early treatment with an anticonvulsant suppressed the development of the debilitating disease.

"We found that it may be possible to prevent epilepsy," lead investigator Dr. Hal Blumenfeld told Reuters Health. "This goes beyond treating the symptoms, and is aimed at the disease itself."

Epilepsy is a common neurological disorder that affects about 50 million people worldwide. It is characterized by seizures -- temporary loss of consciousness or muscular control -- that are precipitated by abnormal electrical overload on neurons within the brain.

In the medical journal Epilepsia, Blumenfeld and colleagues at Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven note that although current treatments control epilepsy, it is not known whether timely intervention might alter the course of epilepsy development.

To investigate, the researchers studied a breed of albino rats that is an established model of human epilepsy. These animals usually develop seizure at the age of about 3 months.

The researchers added the oral anticonvulsant drug ethosuximide to the animals' drinking water from weaning to the age of 5 months and found that this early treatment blocked changes in the expression of ion channels normally associated with epilepsy in this model.

In addition, even after therapy was discontinued, the treated animals still had a marked suppression of seizures at 8 months.

The researchers say the results must be confirmed in other animals and with other medications before moving on to human treatment trials.

Nonetheless, these experimental results, Blumenfeld said, "offer some hope that preventing epilepsy is a realistic goal. Patients and families may be spared from life-long consequences if we can learn more about how to prevent epilepsy from developing in the first place."

SOURCE: Epilepsia, online December 7, 2007.