UC Riverside study examines molecular pathways that may instigate seizures in some multiple sclerosis patients
A research team at the University of California, Riverside School of Medicine has identified a pathway involving astrocytes, a class of central nervous system support cells, that could shed light on why seizures happen in a subset of multiple sclerosis, or MS, patients.
Study results, available in ASN Neuro, improve scientific understanding of how seizures arise in MS and could provide the foundation for better therapies to manage treatment-resistant seizures in MS and other brain diseases.
Characterized by progressive episodic decline in neurological function, MS affects more than 900,000 people in the United States. This autoimmune disease damages the fatty sheath — myelin — that protects nerve fibers, which hinders the speed of signals in the central nervous system. While not classically considered a defining symptom of the disease, seizures occur three-times more often in MS patients than healthy individuals and may portend a flare-up of symptoms. MS patients that experience seizures also have a decreased quality of life and higher mortality rate. The mechanisms that cause seizures in MS patients remains poorly understood.
“During a seizure, there is a dysfunction between inhibition and excitation and a bunch of neurons fire together without control,” said Seema Tiwari-Woodruff, a professor of biomedical sciences and senior author on the paper.
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